Kedarnath is one of the most sacred pilgrimages of Lord Shiva situated in Rudraprayag district of Garhwal region in Uttarakhand. Kedarnath is one of the Char Dham in Uttarakhand and the most important dham among Panch kedar. Kedarnath is situated at an altitude of 3586 mts, in the lap of the majestic mountain peaks and near the head of river Mandakini, Kedarnath range stands one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva.
Kedar meaning powerful is another name of Lord Shiva the protector and the destroyer. The beautiful ambiance around the temple looks like quite peace on heaven causes a beautiful place to do meditation.The main attractions here is the Shiva Temple, which is a popular Hindu shrine and pilgrimage, attracting devotees from all over the world. The travel and tourism scope here is strengthened by factors like natural beauty and religious zest.
Shiva is considered the embodiment of all passions – love, hatred, fear, death and mysticism which are expressed through his various forms. There are more than 200 shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva in the area itself, the most important one is Kedarnath.
The present temple, built in 8th century A.D. by Adi Shankaracharya, stands adjacent to the site of an earlier temple built by the Pandavas. The inner walls of the assembly hall are decorated with figures of various deities and scenes from mythology.
Outside the temple door, a large statue of the Nandi Bull stands as guard. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the exquisitely architectured Kedarnath temple is considered to be more than 1000 years old. Built of extremely large, heavy and evenly cut gray slabs of stones, it evokes wonder as to how these heavy slabs had been handled in the earlier days. The temple has a “Garbha Griha” for worship and a Mandap, apt for assemblies of pilgrims and visitors. A conical rock formation inside the temple is worshipped as Lord Shiva in his Sadashiva form.
Pooja Performed in Kedarnath Mandir
No specific family of pujaris supervises rituals at Kedarnath, which focus around veneration of the stone lingam that rests in the inner sanctum of the temple. Besides its affiliation with Shiva, Kedarnath is also believed to be the site of Shankaracharya’s samadhi. The Kedarnath Temple committee office organises booking for special pooja which is performed before the general darshan in the morning.
Kedarnath Temple Opening and Closing Timings
Temple is closed from 3 pm to 5 pm so plan to be at temple before 3 pm. Before 3 pm visitors can touch idle and do Abhishek with Ghee. After 5 PM no one can touch idle but can get Darshan with a distance. At this time idle is in Emperor costume.
The temple at Kedarnath enshrining the Jyotirlingam of Shiva opens only six months of a year (April-November) when the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries and it is closed when the sun enters Scorpio.
