Kedarnath is a temple town in the Rudraprayag district in the Indian State of Uttarakhand. This town gets its name from a king called Kedar who is said to have ruled during the last Satya Yuga.

The Kedarnath temple in this town, which the town is famous for is said to have been built by the Pandava brothers during the era of Mahabharatha after the Kurukshetra War which is around 3150 BCE (according to the astronomical dating of the events in Mahabharata). This makes this temple around 5000 years old. It is said that Lord Shiva appeared to the Pandava brothers at this place.

Kedarnath Temple in 1882

Kedarnath Temple is around 11,760 feet above sea level and lies near the Chorabari Glacier at which river Mandakini, a tributary of Ganga takes birth in these Himalayan Mountains.

Even though the original Temple is said to be built around the times of Mahabharata, in recent times it is said to have been revived by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the proponent of the Advaita philosophy.

Another view of Kedarnath Temple in 1882. Image Source: Geological Survey of India

The temple town remains inaccessible during winter due to heavy snowfall, and the temple remains closed from the month of November to April.  The head priest (called Rawal) of the Kedarnath temple is from the Veerashaiva community of the Karnataka State.

The torrential rains and flash floods resulting from cloud burts and glacier burst in June 2013 caused heavy destruction in the town of Kedarnath killing hundreds of pilgrims and locals. However, the temple itself remained unharmed.

Increasing tourism and activities like mining and hydro-electric dam projects are said to have contributed to the deteriorating situation of the sensitive ecological landscape in this Himalayan region. Deforestation results in loosening of the soil that otherwise holds the mountain slopes intact. Forest covers absorb the immediate impact of heavy rains and water . Cutting down trees makes the entire rain water to rush down the slopes with no stoppers. Earth quakes and heavy rains act like a trigger for land slides and flash floods due to the loose soil. Also the ever increasing number of tourists, and the mushrooming tourism industry puts an even more pressure on this sensitive ecology, with the need to build more roads, accommodation for the tourists, etc.

It is the responsibility of the government, local authorities and we the citizens to ensure that we do not put undue pressure on the natural resources than what it can take.

I am I plus my surroundings, if I do not preserve the latter, I do not preserve myself