Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand – History

Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand – History

The temple, at a height of 3,583 m (11,755 ft.), 223 km from Rishikesh, on the shores of Mandakini river, a tributary of Ganga, is a stone edifice of unknown date. It is not certain who built the original Kedarnath temple and when. The name "Kedarnath" means "the lord of the field": it derives from the Sanskrit words kedara ("field") and natha ("lord"). The text Kashi Kedara Mahatmya states that it is so called because "the crop of liberation" grows here.

The Mahabharata, which gives the account of the Pandavas and the Kurukshetra War, does not mention any place called Kedarnath. One of the earliest references to Kedarnath occurs in the Skanda Purana (c. 7th-8th century), which contains a myth describing the origin of the Ganges river. The text names Kedara (Kedarnath) as the place where Shiva released the holy water from his matted hair.

According to the hagiographies based on Madhava's Sankshepa-shankara-vijaya, the 8^th century philosopher Adi Shankara died at Kedaranatha (Kedarnath); although other hagiographies, based on Anandagiri's Prachina-Shankara-Vijaya, state that he died at Kanchi. The ruins of a monument marking the purported death place of Shankara are located at Kedarnath. Kedarnath was definitely a prominent pilgrimage centre by the 12^th century, when it is mentioned in Kritya-kalpataru written by the Gahadavala minister Bhatta Lakshmidhara.

Some says Raja Bhoj of Malwa, who ruled between 1076 to 1099 AD, built the temple. According to a tradition recorded by the English mountaineer Eric Shipton (1926), "many hundreds of years ago", the Kedarnath temple did not have a local priest: the priest of the Badrinath temple used to hold services at both the temples, traveling between the two places daily.

Scientists claim that Kedarnath temple was under snow for almost 400 years and say that most of the people are unaware of this fact. According to scientists of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Kedarnath temple survived being buried under the snow for almost 400 years and so they are not surprised that the shrine did not suffer much damage during the massive floods on June 15-16 in the region.

According to the scientists, the temple structure has several yellow lines, which were formed as the glacier slowing moved over the stones. Actually, glaciers move very slowly and are not only made up of snow and ice but also have rocks and mud. The temple not only survived being under the snow for 400 years but also escaped any serious damage due to glacial movement even though its impact can be seen in the form of yellow lines on the stones used in constructing the Kedarnath shrine.

Scientist say that even the inside of the temple shows signs of glacial movement and the stones are more polished. They point out that the period between 1300-1900 AD is known as Little Ice Age when a large portion of the earth was covered by the snow. It is believed that during the period Kedarnath temple and neighboring are was covered by snow and became a part of glaciers.

Although there is no documentary evidence regarding the age of Kedarnath temple and by whom it was constructed, but there are several myths about its construction. Wadia Institute of Geology scientists conducted Lichenometric dating of Kedarnath temple and the nearby areas. Lichenometric dating is a technique to find out the age of stones. According to the Lichenometric dating, glacial formation in the area started in the mid of 14th century and continued till 1748.

So, it is clear when the temple was being constructed, the technicians not only kept in mind the terrain but also the formation of snow and glaciers and ensured that the structure was strong enough not only to withstand natural disasters and the passage of time. Actually, the entire area of Kedarnath is a part of Chorabari glacier. Kedarnath temple is surrounded by mountains from three sides. On one side is the 22,000 feet high Kedarnath while Kharchkund, which is 21,600 feet high, is on the other side and on the third side is the 22,700 feet Bharatkund.

According to the legend the area also has five rivers Mandakini, Madhuganga, Chhirganga, Saraswathi and Swarndari but some of them are mythical. But Mandakini rules the Kedarnath area and there is heavy snow in winter and plenty of water during the rainy season. So, the believers kept in mind that in Hindu religion Shiva, to whom Kedarnath is dedicated, is a not only a saviour but also a destroyer. So, the entire temple complex and the area was built in such a way that the shrine would be able to survive natural disasters.