Kedarnath is one of the most prominent and beautiful pilgrim centers of the Hindu religion in India. It is located in the beautiful lap of the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.
In winters, the temple gets covered with snow. The beautiful aura is attractive and peaceful.
Temple is worshiped in the name of Lord Shiva, a Hindu lord. Kedarnath Temple is one of the 275 temples by the name of Mahadev.
Kedarnath temple is located in the beautiful district of Uttarakhand, i.e., Rudraprayag. It is one of the most mesmerizing and famous locations for worshipers of Lord Shiva. The air here appears to be chanting the name of Lord Shiva amid the mighty snowfall.
STRUCTURE
The grand and attractive structure of Lord Shiva’s shrine is made up of magnificent grey stones. A large and beautiful stone statue of Nandi Bull stares and keeps guarding Lord Shiva’s statue.
A conical rock-shaped lingam is worshiped as lord shiva inside the temple in Sadashiv form.
Due to extreme weather conditions in Kedarnath, the temple is open for the pilgrims and general public only between April and November, so that roadways are clear and the devotees do not face difficulties.
The temple is not directly reachable by roadways and has to be accessed by a 22 km uphill trek from Gaurikund.
According to Hindu intellectuals, the Kedarnath temple was initially constructed by the Pandavas.
They were supposed to worship and please Lord Shiva by doing penance here.
2013 FLOOD
In 2013, Kedarnath city was very severely affected during the Kedarnath flood in North India. The Kedarnath temple complex, surrounding areas of the temple, and Kedarnath the whole town were almost destroyed. The temple structure where the statue of Lord Shiva is situated did not suffer any significant damage, apart from a few cracks on the walls.
The Purohits at Kedarnath mandir are the ancient Brahmins of the Kedarnath region, whose ancestors have been worshipping Lord Shiva’s lingam since the time of Nara-Narayana.
The Kedarnath temple is said to have been redeveloped by the great Hindu religious Guru Adi Shankaracharya to its present form from the old one.