The Holy Himalayas up in the misty heights of the majestic Garhwal Himalayas that adorn the magnificent state of Uttarakhand, awaits a rejuvenating spiritual experience for the devout.
Nestling in the lofty peaks are the four most holy pilgrimages of India -Yamunotri, Gangotri, Sri Kedarnathji and Sri Badrinathji, collectively referred to as the Char Dham ( or four pilgrimage centres) of Hinduism. For centuries, saints and pilgrims, in their search for the divine, have walked these mystical vales known in ancient Hindu scriptures as 'Kedarkhand'
If the scriptures of
HINDU RELIGION are to be believed, the holy centres of Gangotri, Yamunotri,Badrinath and Kedarnath - collectively called the Chardham (meaning four sacred spots) - are the mostsacred of all pilgrimages. Undertaking a journey to these places will not just wash away one's sins butensure release from the cycle of birth and death. The honour conferred on these places is not surprising.
For one, they are all in the icy Garhwal ranges andregarded as the most sacred of all Himalayan ranges.It is also said that heaven and earth converge inthese holy spots, and to be born or die here is a boononly the very fortunate have. The Chardham must be visited from left to right -beginning with Yamunotri, going on to Gangotri,
Kedarnath and culminating the journey at Badrinath.This route follows the Hindu tradition of parikrama orclockwise circumambulation.
Kedarnath is considered to be the holiest of Shivas shrines in the Himalayas. It is likened in the Skanda Purana to Jahnavi (Ganga) amongst rivers, the Brahmin amongst men, and gold amongst metals. Devout Hindus believe that whoever dies here becomes one with Shiva, and the properties of the sacred land are believed to cleanse the most hardened sinner. The temple stands at the head of the Mandakini river in the shadow of the Kedarnath peak. It is dedicated to the worship of Sadasiva, the invisible form of Shiva. The symbolic phallus , the Jyotirlinga or resplendent lingam, one of twelve scattered over India, is in the form of a natural rock and is also called the Shankaracharyashiva. Beyond the temple stretches the snowy expanse known as the mahapanth-the highway of heaven. A short distance away is a precipice known as Bhairav-jhanp-_Shiva_s leap_. Untill the first quarter of the last century, certain devotees would commit ritual suicide by throwing themselves off the edge in the belief that Shiva would thereby grant them instant salvation. Not very far away is the Chorabari Tal, now renamed the Gandhi Sarovar, where the river Mandakini originates. There are a number of glacial lakes within a radius of 5 km from Kedarnath. |
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