KEDARNATH DARSHAN केदारनाथ अदभूत दर्शन
Channel: wellwisher 1111
Date: 2021-04-29

Kedarnath is a town in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and has gained importance because of Kedarnath Temple. It is a nagar panchayat in Rudraprayag district. The most remote of the four Chota Char Dham sites, Kedarnath is located in the Himalayas, about 3,583 m (11,755 ft) above sea level near Chorabari Glacier, the source of river Mandakini, and is flanked by snow-capped peaks, most prominently Kedarnath mountain. The nearest road head is at Gaurikund about 16kms away. 
 Kedarnath has been a pilgrimage centre since ancient times. It is not certain who constructed the original Kedarnath temple and when. A mythological account ascribes the temple's construction to the legendary Pandava brothers mentioned in the Mahabharata.[5][6] However, the Mahabharata does not mention any place called Kedarnath. One of the earliest references to Kedarnath occurs in the Skanda Purana (c. 7th-8th century), which names Kedara (Kedarnath) as the place where Lord Shiva released the holy waters of Ganga from his matted hair, resulting in the formation of the Ganges river.[7]

According to the hagiographies based on Madhava's Sankshepa-Shankara-Vijaya, the 8th century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya died near the Kedaranatha (Kedarnath) sanctuary; although other hagiographies, based on Anandagiri's Prachina-Shankara-Vijaya, state that he died at Kanchi. The ruins of a monument marking the purported resting place of Lord Shankara are located at Kedarnath.[8] Kedarnath was definitely a prominent pilgrimage centre by the 12th century when it is mentioned in Kritya-kalpataru written by the Gahadavala minister Bhatta Lakshmidhara.[9]