Description of the attraction
One of the most revered Hindu temples in India, where God Shiva is worshiped, is the Kedarnath temple, or as it is also called Kedarnath Mandir. It is located in the Himalayas near the Mandakini River, in the sacred city of Kedarnath, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, right on the Indian-Chinese border. The place where the temple was built is located at an altitude of 3584 meters above sea level and is surrounded on all sides by snowy peaks. Kedarnath Mandir is very popular with tourists and pilgrims.
The temple is believed to have been built around the 8th century during the reign of Jagat Guru Adi Shankaracharya. People believe that it existed even during the great Mahabharata war. It is small in size compared to other religious Indian buildings of this type. It has two main halls, one of which is the main sanctuary of the Kedarnath Mandir. It contains a stone carved in the form of a cone, which is considered to be the repository of the divine essence of Shiva - Linga. In another room, there are statues of God Krishna, Pancha Pandavas and Virabhadra - some of the most devoted "guards" of Shiva. At the entrance to the temple sits Nandi - a stone statue of the sacred bull Shiva. Inside, all the walls and ceilings of the building are decorated with images of animals, people, deities, and mythological characters.
The temple is unfortunately only open to the public for about six months a year, from late April to the last autumn full moon, the so-called Kartik Purnima, due to severe weather conditions. In winter, all the idol statues known as murti are transferred to another sacred place in the state - Ukhimath.
