Kedarnath Mandir

Kedarnath Mandir is one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located atop the

Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand in India. Due to extreme

weather conditions, the temple is open only between the end of April to Kartik Purnima (the autumn

full moon). During the winters, the murtis (idols) from Kedarnath temple are brought to Ukhimath and

worshipped there for six months. In this region Lord Shiva is worshipped as Kedarnath, the 'Lord of

Kedar Khand', the historical name of the region. This temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam (the 275 Holy

Abodes of Shiva on the continent), praised by the Tamil Nayanars saints in the 6th-9th century CE.

The temple is not directly accessible by road and has to be reached by a 14 km uphill trek from

Gaurikund . The temple is believed to have been built by Adi Sankaracharya [1] and is one of the

twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Shiva. The older temple existed from the times of

Mahabharata, when the Pandavas are 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.