Kedarnath Yatra Details
Count up among the 12 Jyotirlingas devoted to lord Shiva, Kedarnath is an extremely admired temple situated in the Rudra Mountain range, near the River Mandakini in the Himalayas. The temple is reflected to have been around a thousand years old and is linked with the epic Mahabharata. Kedarnath is one of the highly situated of the Jyotirlingas, and due to this high elevation, it is reachable only half of the year. The winters are severe and the temple becomes unapproachable.
The stunning temple structure, constructed with massive white stones, is said to have been built approximately thousands of years ago. It is the abode, beside with the prime divine being Lord Shiva, the statues of Nandi (Shiva's mode of transportation) and Virbhadra, lord Shiva's guard. There are also idols of the Pandava brothers in the temple, the heroes of epic Mahabharat and their link with this temple as well as lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva's idol, the core attraction of the temple is adored as the Shiva Linga, his Sada Shiva form. The linga is located in the middle of the temple, below the narrowed shaped dome of the structure.
The legend said that the temple is associated with the five brothers and the heroes of the epic Mahabharata, they called as Pandavas. After the fight at Kurukshetra, Pandavas won by killing their brothers (cousins), which were the Kaurava. The mercy killing rendered them sinful and thus not permitted to enter the heavens.
The only technique to get out of this sin was to pursue forgiveness from Shiva. So, the brothers saw for the God and Shiva, since they were sinful, avoided. The story goes that Shiva converted himself into a bull so that the pandavas could not recognize him. But they did identified lord Shiva, and Shiva (bull at the time) extinct into the ground. Later on, the bull's five different parts give the impression at five different places, which came to be called as Panch Kedar. The bull's hump seemed at Kedarnath.
