The Kedarnath Temple, one of Lord Shiva's twelve Jyotirlingas, stands majestically at 3,580 metres above sea level and is encircled by the powerful Garhwal Himalayas. The Chota Char Dham Pilgrimage includes Kedarnath as one of its four destinations.
The most significant of the Panch Kedars and one of the 275 temples of Paadal Petra Sthalams (the most potent Shiva temples in the world) dedicated to Lord Shiva is Kedarnath Temple.
The Kedarnath temple's history has been told in a number of different ways. Others claim that in the eighth century, Hindu mystic Adi Shankaracharya, erected it. According to other accounts, Raja Bhoj of Malwa constructed it in the second century. What however motivated them? There are numerous stories, once again.
One of them continues the story of the Mahabharata. According to legend, the Pandavas went to meet Shiva to ask for his pardon for the misdeeds of the battle after the slaughter at Kurukshetra. Shiva refused to meet with them and departed Kashi, his home. He was not happy with them. In Guptakashi, he played the role of Nandi the bull. But, when the Pandavas learned, they made an attempt to seize Nandi. The face at Rudranath, the arms at Tungnath, the navel and stomach at Madhyamaheshwar, the locks at Kalpeshwar, and the hump at Kedarnath are only a few of the locations where Shiva escaped and this time appeared in five separate parts.
In the second story, Shiva appears to Hindu god Nara-Narayan as he goes to worship Parvati. For the benefit of humanity, Nara-Narayan urged him to remain there in his original form. Kedarnath became his home when Lord Shiva fulfilled his wish.
400 years under the snow!
According to geologists, the Little Ice Age, which lasted from 1300 to 1900 AD and is also known as this historical period, saw the temple of Kedarnath covered in snow for about 400 years. The numerous yellow lines on the temple walls, according to experts from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun, indicate glacial activity in the area. According to this assessment, the temple not only survived spending 400 years submerged in snow, but it also avoided suffering any significant harm from glacial movement.
Even the interior of the temple, according to scientists, exhibits evidence of glacial movement, and the stones are more polished. According to the report's additional findings, architects for the temple not only considered the environment but also how snow and glaciers formed, and they made sure the building was sturdy enough to endure not just natural disasters but also the passage of time.