Kedarnath temple is a beautiful temple made of stones, situated in the Himalayas. The myth associated with Kedarnath says, during the war between Pandavas and Kauravas, the kith and kin of Pandavas were killed. In order to hide themselves, Pandavas took pilgrimage but Lord Vishweshwara was far away in Kailasa. After knowing this, Pandavas left Kashi for Himalayas via Haridwar. On their way, they s
aw Lord Shankar but Lord Shankar escaped from their sight. Knowing this Dharamraj cried, “Lord, we know you are near us but are hiding just because we have sinned. One day we will seek you and then only our sins will be washed. The place you are hiding yourself will be named Guptkashi and in future it will become a holy shrine”. While searching for Lord Shankara, Pandavas reached Gaurikund from Guptkashi. Nakul and Sehdev came across a unique he-buffalo. Bheem went after the buffalo and in order to catch the clever buffalo, he hit the buffalo with his mace. Buffalo lost his balance and hid his head under the earth’s crust. Bheem started pulling buffalo out of the crust with his tail. During this tug war the hind part of the buffalo was left at Kedarnath and the face went to Nepal. The face of Buffalo in Nepal is known as Pashupatinath. From the hind part of buffalo appeared Lord Shankar in the form of Jyotirlinga. After having Darshan of Lord Shiva, the sins of Pandavas were resolved. Lord Shankar told Pandavas, “I will be present here in the form of triangular shaped Jyotirlinga and pilgrims would attain piety”. The places near Kedarnath show evidences of Pandava Raja Pandu’s death while making love to Madri. The place is also famous as Panduskeshwasr and ‘Pandav Nritya’ is performed here by the local tribes. Bheem and Lord Shankara once fought to gain Mashisharupa. Bheem later regretted the fight and started massaging Lord Shankara’s body with ghee. In memory of this myth, the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shankara is massaged with ghee even today. Srimat Shankaracharya praised Lord Shiva thus:
The temple is not directly accessible by road and has to be reached by a 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) uphill trek from Gaurikund. Pony and manchan service is also available. The temple is believed to have been built by Pandavas and revived by Adi Sankaracharya[1] and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Shiva. Pandavas were supposed to have pleased Shiva by doing penance in Kedarnath. The temple is also one of the four major sites in India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage of Northern Himalayas
