Kedarnath Temple

The Hindu Mythology

As per the Hindu Mythology, in the war of Mahabharata the Pandavas killed a lot of their friends, relatives and enemy soldiers. At the end of the war they went to sage Vyasa to show them how to absolve their sin. Vyasa advised them a pilgrimage to Himalayas and a sacred view of Lord Shiva.

 Lord Shiva would not allow the Pandavas to catch a glimpse of him so easily. He started playing a hide and seeks game and the Pandavas followed him from Kashi, Haridwar and Gupta Kashi till they reached Gaurikund.

Here they noticed Lord Shiva disguised as a he-buffalo. Bhima tried to grab hold of the buffalo as the buffalo also tried to enter and vanish under the earth. In the tug of war the buffalo split into five pieces and fell in different directions. The hind part of the buffalo fell here and turned into a stone. The godly voice of Shiva said “I will reside here as a Jyotirlinga” The Pandavas were absolved of their sins.

Hindu’s till today believe with a mere sight of the stone they will be relieved of all their sins. Hence they have been taking a journey to Kedarnath for centuries ignoring all the hardships they have to undertake.

Kedarnath not for the weak hearted

The distance from Rishikesh to Gaurikund is approximately 209 kilometer.

At present the road goes up to Gaurikund but in the past motor-able road ended at Rishikesh.

Pilgrims would reach Rishikesh from all corners of the country by road in small groups. Spend a day or two resting in some Dharamsala (Rest rooms in a temple complex for pilgrims at a cheap rate or free) before they start on their tough journey. They would carry little luggage, cotton and woolen clothes, water bottle, some dry food all wrapped in a blanket or put in a sack. The rich ones could afford a porter and the rest had to carry them.

Pilgrims would start their long walk in small groups with their back pack and a stick in hand at dawn when it is comparatively cooler. As the day progressed the summer sun would come scorching down forcing them to rest under the shade of a tree by noon. The rest might not be peaceful as one has to fight the ants and the flies. As evening progressed they will have to start again pull up their tiring legs and find shelter before night falls in the nearest Choti (rest house).

The Choti’s were a place where you get to sleep at night in a room shared with many other pilgrims, bed-roll available at a price. You can buy flour, rice; lentils, salt etc cook your dinner, eat dinner, clean the utensils and return them to the Choti owner before you sleep. 

If you reach late the Choti rooms may get overcrowded and you may be forced to sleep outside the room on the open porch. All around were jungles and there always remained that fear of a wild animal attack.

Again wake up at dawn and start your tiring days walk till the summer sun forced them to stop.

This would go on for days as the group walks up slowly from Rishikesh to Devprayag the confluence of the two rivers Alakananda and Bhagirathi after which it is called Ganges.  Near the confluence is a Rama Temple, it is believed after killing Ravana, the Demon in Ramayana, Rama came here for penance.

From Devprayag the Kedarnath pilgrims will take the right trail along river Alakananda to reach Rudraprayag which is the confluence of rivers Mandakini and Alakananda. Then the parties takes the left hand trail along river Mandakini and moves upward touching Gupta-Kashi, Kund and Trijugi Narayan, Gaurikund and reach Kedarnath.

All this hardship just to go and stand in front of a stone block?

The journey was so tough that many gave up halfway and return dejected, defeated. Then there were the attacks of diseases like measles, pox and cholera with no proper medical centre nearby some pilgrims even lost their life only to be cremated by their friends in the group. The death news reached their home much later.

A person who has successfully borne all the hardship and came back alive with a glimpse of Kedarnath was considered a person who has seen god and got his blessings. People would touch his feet to pay their respect to Lord Shiva.