Kedarnath- History and travel guide. How to go?

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Kedarnath means 'temple of the god of the field' is a Hindu temple one of the twelve jyotirlinga of Shiva. The temple is located on the Garhwal, Himalaya range, near the Mandakini river, in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The town built around the revered Kedarnath temple, is located at an altitude of 3,580 m, near Chorabari glacier, which is the source of the Mandakini River.
Shivea 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. 

Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple is open to general public only between the months of April ( Akshaya Tritiya) and November (Kartik Purnima, the autumn full moon).

During the winters, the vigraha of the temple is carried down to Ukhimath to be worshipped for the next six months. Kedarnath is seen as a homogenous form of Shiva, the ' Lord of Kedarnath', the historical name of the region. 

Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the ancient temple has exquisite architecture and is built of extremely large but evenly shaped grey stone slabs. A conical rock formation inside the temple is worshipped as Lord Shiva in his " Sadashiva" form. Behind the Kedarnath temple, stand the Kedarnath peak, Kedar Dome and other Himalayan peaks.

History behind the legends of origin:

A folk legend about Panch Kedar relates to the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Pandavas defeated and slew their cousins - the Kauravas in the epic Kurukshetra War. They wished to atone for the sins of committing Fratricide (gotra hatya) and Brahmanahatya ( killing of Brahmins - the priest class) during the war. Thus they handed over the reins of their kingdom to their kin and left in search of Lord Shiva and to seek his blessings. First they went to the holy city of Varanasi shiva's favorite city. But Shiva wanted to avoid them due to the war of Kurukshetra. Therefore, he assumed the form of Bull (Nandi) and hid in the Garhwal region. Then Bhima, the second of the five Pandavas brothers, saw a bull grazing in Guptakashi, Garhwal. Bhima recognized bull as a Shiva and he caught hold of the bull by its tail and hind legs. But the bull formed Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump raising in Kedarnath. The arms appearing in Tunganath, the face in Rudranath, naval and stomach in Madhyamaheshwar and hair appearing in Kalpeshwar. These four temples are around main temple in Kedarnath.

The temple:

The presiding image of Kedarnath in the form of lingam is of irregular shape with a pedestal 3.6m in circumference and 3.6 m in height. There is small pillared hall in front of the temple, that has images of Parvati and of the Pandava princes. Surrounding Kedarnath there are, there are many symbols of the Padavas. Raja Pandu died at Pandukeshwar. The mountain top where the Pandavas went is known as 'Swargarohini', which is located off Badrinath.When Yudhistra the eldest of the Pandavas was leaving for the heaven one of his finger fell on the earth. At this place Yudhistra installed a Shiva Linga, which is the size of the thumb.

The temple was built in 8th century A.D. by Adi Shankaracharya. It is adjacent to the site of an earlier temple built by the Pandavas.

How to go?

The travel and tourism scope here is strengthened by factors like natural beauty and religious zest. 

Reach Rishikesh: The city is well connected to rail route, inter- state and national bus routes. In case if you are coming via flight then jolly grant airport ids just 20 km or 35 min route.

Rishikesh to Sonprayag or Gaurikund

Direct buses are tough to get for Guptakashi which is well settled in the last town before Kedarnath and daily bus services are also available from major cities of Uttarakhand to Guptakashi.


Biometric registration at Soneprayag:

As instructed by the Uttarakhand government, It it necessary for every traveler to do bio metric registration. You have to carry Aadhar card with yourself.

Sonprayag to gaurikund shuttle service & night stay at Gaurikund:

Please keep this in mind that Sonprayag is the last point for all kinds of vehicle. You cant travel by your personal vehicle. A huge parking facility is available at Sonprayag for all kinds of vehicle on the bank of Mandakini river.

Gaurikund to Kedarnath (16km trek/ 5-6 hours)

It is a 16 km trek  through a paved road from Gaurikund. You can take a horse or ponies to climb up the steep path.

Trekking tips for your journey to Kedarnath:

  • Start your trek early in the morning.
  • Don't try walk empty stomach.
  • Carry umbrella/ raincoat
  • walk with good grip shoes
  • Carry water bottle
You will probably reach to Kedarnath valley post noon or around 3 pm if you have started your journey at 8 am in the morning.

Where to stay:
Search a hotel for your night stay. Alot of government rooms as well as private rooms are available here.  Book your Hotel to Phata which is close to Kedarnath.


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