Kedarnath temple

In this blog you are going to read about the Kedarnath temple. this blog will be helpful to you for your general knowledge purpose so please read this blog till the end and share with all the GK aspirants.

Image Credit - Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temples Committee

• Kedarnath mandir or Kedarnath temple is Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• It is situated in the Kedarnath town Garhwal Himalayan range on the Shores of Mandakini river in Uttarakhand state of India.
• Due to extreme weather conditions the temple is open from Akshay Treethiya to Kartik Purnima in short form April to November.
• During winter means from November to April the deities is means the Utsav Murti is brought to place known as Ukimath and worshiped there for 6 months.
• Kedar Khand is the historical name of the region.
• Shiva is worship as Kedarnath means the Lord of Kedar Khand.
• You have to trek for 11 mile (18 km) to reach the temple.
• Pony and Machan services are also available to reach the temple.
• Kedarnath temple was built by Pandavas during Mahabharat era after Mahabharat War to atone their sins committed during war.
• Adi Shankaracharya revived this temple during their stay in 8th century CE.
• Kedarnath is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas - Sources of Cosmic lights.
• Jyotirling is hindu shrine of shiva.
• It is one of the 275 paadal petra sthalams according to Tevaram.
• It is one of the Char Chota Dham pilgrimage of northern Himalaya.
• The temple is the highest among 12 Jyotirlingas.
• Kedarnath was the worst affected area during the 2013 flash floods in north India.
• River Mandakini is tributaries of Ganga river.
• The temple is situated at height of 3583 metre from the sea level and it is 223 kilometre from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.
• The kedarnath lingam is having circumference of 3.6 metre and a height of 3.6 metre.
• Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have mahasamadhi at Kedarnath. Behind the temple the Samadhi Mandir of Adi Shankaracharya is also there.
• The head priest of the Kedarnath temple is called Raval and he belongs to the Veershaiva community of Karnataka. Raval instructs pujari assistants for the worship of the Kedarnath
• During pooja of lord Shiva of Kedarnath the mantras will be pronounced in the Kannada language. This has been a custom from hundreds of years.
• Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Mandir act that is the Uttar Pradesh state government act number 30 / 1948 as act number 161939 administrates the temple.
• There are more than 200 shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva in Chamboli district itself.
• As per scientists of Wadia Institute, Dehradun the temple was buried under snow for 400 years form 13th to 17th century - when a small ice age occurred. But it is still safe. The markings of glacier can be seen on the walls of the temple.
• Dimensions of the temple are - height = 85ft, lenght = 187ft and width = 80ft.
• The walls of temple are 12 ft wide.
• The ceiling of the temple is carved from a stone.
• The temple is constructed on 6ft high block of stone.
• The interlocking of stones technique is used to construct the temple.
• The temple and town are surrounded by three mountains viz Kedarnath mountain (22000ft), Kharchkund (21600ft) and Bharatkund (22700ft).
• It is assumed that five rivers named Mandakini, Madhuganga, Kshirganga, Sarswati and Swarngauri inter-flow (Sangam) at this place. But only Mandakini river is visible.

Map Credit - Google Map