THE TICKET: The Paradise On Earth 'KEDARNATH'

DESTINATION:- KEDARNATH, UTTARAKHAND (INDIA)

I started my journey on 26th May 2006 for 3 days. Early morning i started from Kotdwara Garhwal. I passed through places like Pauri, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Karanprayag, Agastya Muni, Guptakashi, Son Prayag and Gaurikund.

It is believed that Srinagar was established by Shri Shankaracharya. The legend says that there was a man-eating rock at Srinagar called Sryntra. Sri Guru Shankracharya threw it in the river. The very name, 'Srinagar' meaning the dwelling place of God conveys the immense sanctity of the town. It is believed that the river Alaknanda writes 'Om' near Srinagar.

From Srinagar Garhwal i reached Rudraprayag, the holy Confluence of the Alaknanda and the Mandakini. I halted there for about an hour had a quick look of the place and the beautiful river flowing by. An iron chain has been fixed at the confluences where steps lead to the water. The place derives its name from Rudra, one of the names of lord shiva. It was here that the pride of Narad was humbled. There are various temples of Shiva and Annapurna Devi at Rudraprayag. I had my lunch and took photographs.

The road to Kedarnath is along river Mandakini. The valley is enchantingly beautiful. The scenery is rugged and captivating the first place of interest is a wide open plain called Agastya Muni where Rishi Agastya meditated. The legend goes that at time of Shiva's marriage to Parvati, all creatures of the world reached Kedarkhand. The earth tilted towards the North and Shiva himself asked Agastya to go to South to restore the balance. The Muni pounded down the Vindhyas and reached Pothia which is also called Kailas of the South.

The first major place after Agastya Muni is Gupta Kashi, a small town with a bazaar on both sides of the road. It was here that Shiva disappeared from the Pandavas, thus giving the name Kashi to the place. It is believed that in the first part of Kalyuga, kashi would be most sacred, in the second part Uttarkashy and at the end Guptakashi.

Passing Rampur, I reached Sitapur from where one track leads to Triyugi Narayan to the left, and the other to Kedarnath. It is said that the marriage between Shiva and Parvati was performed at triyugi Narayan which was the capital of Himavat.

As i move on, I reached Son Prayag, also called Sondwara or Swarna Dwara. It is said that there was a Swarnadwara here which was taken away by the Rohillas. After five km i came to Gauri-kund by evening. It is the last motor head on the route to Kedarnath. After reaching Gaurikund i looked for a lodge. After keeping my luggage, I had a glance of Gauikund.

There are two Kunds-Tapta kund and Gaunkund. Tradition says that Parvati meditated here to propitiate Shiva. There is also a huge rock Uma Shankar Shila. It is said that the spirits of 12 rishis who followed Mahadeva from Srilanka after their expulsion from there, reside in the Shila. Near by are image of Gauri, Radha Krishna and JwalaDevi.

After seeing Gaurikund, I had my dinner and went to bed. My spirit was high thinking about the next day's trekking to Kedarnath temple which was about 14 kms.

The next morning, at about 6O'Clock well-equipped, I started climbing. People of old age were seen on Palkees and horses. On the way i could find only small petty shops and after about 7 kms i reached Rambara. Its a small seasonal chatti. I could see several water falls near to this place. After having light refreshment, I proceeded further.

Just short of Kedarnath, the ascent is steep. The tree-line is left a little a head of cheer Basa Bhairav. The temple comes in view from a distance of about three kilometers viewed against the background of snow-covered peaks. The temple looked gorgeous.

Shri Kedarnath is the shrine of Lord Shiva located in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. A common saying in Gahwal is "Jitne kankar, utne shankar," meaning that there are as many temples of Shiva as there are stones in Garhwal.

Situated on the left bank of the Mandakini, the Kedarnath temple is located at the head of a cup-shaped valley measuring about five kilometers by two kilometers. It is an imposing building with an impressive facade. The Mandakini flows in a serpentine fashion along the side of Kedarpuri, a satellite village of the temple. The shrine is one of the 12 most sacred temples of shiva called Jyotir Lingas. It is a stone structure with huge slabs believed to have been put by Bhim. The temple was erected at the site where Bhim ultimately located Pashupati Nath. It is also said that the temple owes its construction to Janamijaya, the great grandson of Arjuna.

The shrine had fallen into decay during the Buddhist era and it was shri Adi Shankaracharya who re-established it. The most commonly believed tradition is that the Pandavas who followed Shiva up to here and were absolved of their sins, built the temple. After its completion, the Pandavas climbed Mahapath, or the great path which is located on the mountain behind the temple. The Pandavas ascended the heaven from here to merge into the Divine.

An imposing statue of Nandi stands outside the temple which can be divided in two parts. The front portion is known as the garbha gril and rear as Sabha bhavan. In the garbha grih, images of Parvati, Pandavas, Kunti, Draupadi, Krishna and Ganapati have been carved on stones laid on the walls. The five headed idol of shiva is in the middle. There are 24 images of avatars on the main gate and 64 images on the gate of the garbha griha. In the sabha Bhavan, a triangular icon of impressive dimensions covered by a canopy, represents the hinder parts of the divine buffalo.

The temple is closed for winters on the first day of Kartika falling during Oct-Nov. It's normally closed about a week prior to the shrine of Badrinath and is also opened earlies in Vaisakha. Corresponding to the end of April on early May. During winter, Kedarpuri is completely covered with snow; the accumulation of snow being about two metres high. The area around is marshy and devoid of any vegetation and fuel.

After having a good view of Kedarnath temple by afternoon i moved back to Gaurikund and reached by Sunset. Without having halting here, I headed towards Chamole Garhwal and stayed there. The next morning, after having breakfast, I headed towards Dehradun.