Kedarnath Temple
Kedarnath Temple is the most revered shrine of Hindu deity Lord Shiva. The present Kedarnath Mandir was built in 8th century A.D. by Adi Shankaracharya and it is adjacent to the site of an earlier temple built by the Pandavas. Adi Shankaracharya built and restored the glory of Kedarnath Temple as one of 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. The Kedarnath Temple is dated more than 1200 years old.
Kedarnath Temple – A Wonder Architecture
The inner walls of the assembly hall are decorated with figures of various deities and scenes from mythology. Outside the temple door, a large statue of the Nandi Bull stands as guard. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the exquisitely architectured Kedarnath temple is considered to be more than 1000 years old.
Built of extremely large, heavy and evenly cut gray slabs of stones, the temple of Kedarnath evokes wonder as to how these heavy slabs had been handled in the earlier days. The Kedar temple has a “Garbha Griha” for worship and a Mandap, apt for assemblies of pilgrims and visitors. A conical rock formation inside the temple is worshipped as Lord Shiva in his Sadashiva form.
Kedarnath Temple Holistic Rehabilitation
After the Kedarnath Flood in 2013, Kedarnath Temple complex is holistically constructed and rehabilitated in a beautiful way. Although main Kedarnath temple structure is stable, Kedarnath redevelopment includes broader pathways for pilgrims, new guest houses, housing for Pujaris and pilgrims, Bathing Ghats construction, Helipads etc.
Pooja Performed in Kedarnath Temple
The head priest of Kedarnath Temple is known as Rawal, belongs to Veerashaiva community from Karnataka. All the rituals and Pujas perform by Pujaris at Kedarnath on the directions given by Rawal. Devotees can perform special pujas at Kedarnath Temple (online too). Some of Pujas need presence of devotees and some pujas could be book online and no physical presence of devotees needed.
Besides its affiliation with Shiva, Kedarnath is also believed to be the site of Shankaracharya’s samadhi (achievement of beatified afterlife).
Aarti Timings in Kedarnath : The daily pooja rituals at the Kedarnath temple start early morning, around 4.00 am with Maha Abhishek and end at around 7.00 pm with the Shyan aarti. The temple opens for darshan for the general public around 6 am and there is an afternoon recess between 3-5 pm. The public timing for darshan at Kedarnath temple ends at 7.00 pm.
Kedarnath Temple Opening and Closing Timings
Kedarnath Temple darshan timings is schedule as Rawal and other committee members decides. Temple is closed from 3 pm to 5 pm so plan to be at temple before 3 pm. Before 3 pm visitors can touch idle and do Abhishek with Ghee. After 5 PM no one can touch idle but can get Darshan with a distance. At this time idle is in Emperor costume.
The temple at Kedarnath enshrining the Jyotirlingam of Shiva opens only six months of a year (April-November) when the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries and it is closed when the sun enters Scorpio.
Management of Kedarnath Temple
Earlier, under The Uttar Pradesh Act No. 30/1948 the administration of Kedarnath was included in the Badrinath Temple Act no. 16, 1939 and it came to be called Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Mandir Act. The same Mandir Samiti (committee) governed both the temples. Further amended in 2002 after the formation of the 27th state of union of India, the act provides provisions of increasing the number of members, one vice chairman and adding Government officials to the committee. Now Uttarakahand Char Dham Devasthanam Board formed on 15 January 2020 governed all temples including Kedarnath & Badrinath.
