Sunday 19 April 2015

Kedarnath‬ Temple in 1880


According to Hindu mythology, during the ‪#‎Mahabharatha‬ war, the Pandavas killed their relatives; to absolve themselves of this sin, the Pandavas undertook a pilgrimage. But Lord ‪#‎Vishweshwara‬ was away in Kailash in the Himalayas. On learning this, the Pandavas left Kashi. They reached the Himalayas via‪#‎Haridwar‬. They saw Lord Shiva from a distance. But Lord Shiv hid from them. Then Dharmaraj said:
“Oh, Lord, You have hidden yourself from our sight because we have sinned. But, we will seek You out somehow. Only after we take your Darshan would our sins be washed away. This place, where You have hidden Yourself will be known as‪#‎Guptakashi‬ and become a famous shrine.”
From #Guptakashi (‪#‎Rudraprayag‬), the ‪#‎Pandavas‬ went ahead till they reached‪#‎Gaurikund‬ in the ‪#‎Himalayas‬ valleys. They wandered there in search of Lord Shiva. While doing so Nakul and Sahadev found a buffalo which was unique to look at.
Then Bheema went after the buffalo with his mace. The buffalo was clever and Bheema could not catch him. But Bheema managed to hit the buffalo with his mace. The buffalo had its face hidden in a crevice-in the earth. Bheema started to pull it by its tail. In this tug-of war, the face of the buffalo went straight to‪#‎Nepal‬, leaving its hind part in Kedar. The face is Doleshwar Mahadev in Sipadol, Bhaktapur, Nepal.
On this hind part of Mahesha, a JyotirLinga appeared and Lord Shankara appeared from this light. By getting a Darshan of Lord Shankar, the pandavas were absolved of their ‪#‎sins‬.
The Lord told the Pandavas, “From now on,
I will remain here as a triangular shaped JyotirLinga. By taking a Darshan of Kedarnath, devotees would attain piety”. A triangular shaped rock is worshiped in Garbhagriha of the temple. Surrounding Kedarnath, there are many symbols of the Pandavas. The mountain top where the Pandavas went to Swarga, is known as “Swargarohini”, which is located off Badrinath. When Darmaraja was leaving for Swarga, one of his fingers fell on the earth. At that place, Dharmaraj installed a Shiva Linga, which is the size of the thumb. To gain ‪#‎Mashisharupa‬‪#‎Shankara‬and Bheema fought with maces. Bheema was struck with remorse. He started to massage Lord Shankara’s body with ghee. In memory of this event, even today, this triangular Shiva JyotirLinga is massaged with ghee. Water and Bel leaves are used for worship.
When Nara-Narayan went to Badrika village and started the worship of Parthiva, Shiva appeared before them. Nara-Narayan wished that, for the welfare of the humanity, Shiva should remain there in his original form. Granting their wish, in the snow-clad Himalayas, in a place called Kedar, Mahesha himself stayed there as a Jyoti. Here, He is known as Kedareshwara.

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