Since the earth came into existence and the first man was born, he has been seeing and experiencing the natural calamities in the forms of storm, heavy downpours, floods, tsunamis, fire etal. Unfortunately, this time was the turn of Lord Himself Who is described as the ultimate cause of the universe itself. On June16-17, 2013 there was an unprecedented cloudburst in the kedarnath valley which desolated the small township and partly damaged the historical Kedarnath temple.
The Kedarnath is rated as the main deity among the Dwadash-Jyotirlingas (12 Jyotirlingas). It is located at Kedar valley near the Mandakini river, Uttarakhand, India. In the mythological field, this sacred area is known as Kedar-khand. This holy place is not connected with any pucca road. A pilgrim has to trek about 14 km on foot from Gaurikund. For old, children and physically challenged pilgrims there are arrangements of hired coolies and ponies. There are four mini pilgrimages in the Garhwal Himalayas (char dham), namely, Kedarnath, Badarinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri). Due to cold climate, the Kedarnath shrine is open only for about six months from April (Akshaya Tritiya) to November (Kartik Poornima). In the winter the Lord is brought to Ukhimath where the regular worship is conducted by the tradition Rawal Priest. As a result, immediately after its opening, which is announced in the media, there is a huge rush of the faithfuls. Most of them come to Kedarnath in course of their Char-Dham pilgrimage, which is ranked as a life-time achievement in the Hindu society.
If one peeps into history, there is nothing specific about the exact date of this one of the holiest Hindu shrines. The oldest mythological story about this pilgrimage is related to the Pandavas which puts it almost at the end of the Dwapar Yuga. It is said that in the Mahabharata war, when the Pandavas were losing their important generals at the hands of their counterpart Kauravas, they decided to appease Lord Siva. They went to Kashi, but to their misfortune, the Lord had gone to the Himalayas. They followed Him to the Kedar-Khand where the Pandavas saw the Lord who immediately hid Himself. Dhamaraj repeatedly prayed but Shankar did not reappear. Since Shankar had disappeared there, the Pandavas named the place as Guptkashi. Another name, Rudraprayag also denotes almost the same.
Another story says that when the Pandavas started from Gaurikund in search of Shiva, they saw a buffalo. Bheem chased that running buffalo and ultimately hit him with his mace. The head of the buffalo flew off and fell at Sipatol, Bhaktapur, Nepal and became famous as Doleshwar Mahadev. On the hind portion of the animal, a triangular Jyotirlinga (the only triangular phallus) appeared from which a lot of light was emanating. The Pandavas made a temple there. The Lord was appeased and gave them the boon of victory in the war. It is this temple which later, say in around 8th century, Adi Shankaracharya made the present temple.
The cloudburst has almost devastated the human habitation there. All the hotels, darmshalas and private residences were swept away. The temple, as one might have seen, had two parts- outer and inner. The courtyard was having a big Nandi, seeing at the Lord and then there was a hall. Both of them have been erased. However, the sanctum sanctorum stands and the Siva-linga is intact.Thousands of pilgrims were stranded and over a thousand have perished. The number may further rise. The property worth Rs 1,000 crore was swept away. The state Chief Minister has indicated that the administration would take at least one year to repair and reopen the shrine. It would be a great challenge for the entire country to revive this world famous pilgrimage and tourist destination.
When Adi Shankar constructed this temple, there were all sorts of limitations. Today not only connectivity and technology have improved but the faithfuls are capable of donating huge funds. In this background, we wish that the new temple should be a real symbol of our faith and advanced technology. That will be not only our devotion to the presiding deity, but also a real respect to Adi Shankar.
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