Kedarnath: the Ultimate Heaven for all the Divine Pilgrims

Today, man is soaked with a plethora of sins, and it is the divine power of the God, which keeps them hopeful and tied to him. Out of the innumerable holy places and temples to visit in India, the divine journey to the Char Dhams of India, is considered to be an elixir of life. Every year, many pilgrims and devotees, tread to the paths of the Char Dhams, with hopeful hearts, wishing to be blessed by the Almighty.

Among the four Dhams--Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, Kedarnath is the most important one and holds a magical significance. Not only the temple, but the other places to visit in Kedarnath are also flocked by the pilgrims. Let us explore the reason behind the immense importance of Kedarnath.

The epic war of Mahabharata left the victorious Pandavas sinful for killing their kith and kin. To absolve themselves from the unpardonable sin, they set out on a pilgrimage to search for Lord Vishweshwara, who was away in Kailasa in the Himalayas. While the Pandavas were searching for him in the Himalayas, they saw Lord Shiva from a distance. But the God hid himself from the sinful Pandavas. The Pandavas knew that they can wash away their sins only after attaining Lord Shiva’s darshan and blessing. So, they decided to hunt for him. Lord Shiva then, hid himself in Guptakashi (Rudraprayag), which is now an auspicious shrine of the Hindus. While the Pandavas were searching for God Shiva in Gaurikund of the Himalayas, Nakul and Sahdev spotted an unusual buffalo. Bheema decided to catch this unique buffalo, but could not do so. He kept his search alive, and finally spotted it and attacked it with his mace. This attack led to the buffalo’s face to bury in the ground. Bheem tried to pull the buffalo by its tail and while doing this, the face of the buffalo popped out from the ground and fell in Nepal (at Doleshwar Mahadev, in Bhaktapur), while its hind part fell in Kedar. On this very hind part, a Jyotirlinga appeared and Lord Shiva presented himself in the form of light. The Pandavas, thus were successful in attaining the divine Darshan of God Shiva, who then announced his eternal presence in the triangular Jyotirlinga. Since then, the temple of Kedarnath is visited and worshipped with utmost devotion.

Apart from the Kedarnath temple, there are two important lakes here which captivate the attention of not only the pilgrims, but also the tourists from every nook and corner of the world.

Chorbari Tal

Since the time immemorial, India is world renowned for the origin of the yoga. Ever wondered how and where did it first emanate? It was the Chorbari Tal. It is the lake where, many moons ago, Lord Shiva first enlightened the Saptarishis with the knowledge of yoga. It is this very lake, from which the eldest Pandava, Yudhisthira is believed to have departed to the heaven. Don’t forget to visit the majestic lake on your way to Kedarnath.

Gauri Kund

The gateway to Kedarnath, the Gauri Kund is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ganesha and is now, the most sought after place of the Kedarnath tourism. It is the natural hot water spring, where Goddess Parvati is believed to have bathed and created Lord Ganesha from the soap suds of her body. It is this lake, where she asked Ganesha to watchguard the entry of the cave while she was bathing. 

Now, this is an important pilgrim place where numerous devotees of the Goddess come to take a holy dip in the warm water of the kund and attain piety.