Shiv Ji and the Mysteries of Kedarnath Mandir!
जटा टवी गलज्जलप्रवाह पावितस्थले गलेऽव लम्ब्यलम्बितां भुजंगतुंग मालिकाम्।
डमड्डमड्डमड्डमन्निनाद वड्डमर्वयं चकारचण्डताण्डवं तनोतु नः शिव: शिवम् ॥१॥
Meaning:- His throat is pure with the water flowing from his hair,
And there is a snake around his neck which hangs like a necklace,
The sound of Dam Dam is coming out from the damru(Power Drum),
Lord Shiva is performing the auspicious Tandava dance, may he grant us all prosperity.
These are the lines of the famous Shiv Tandav, written and sung by Ravana, the king of Lanka. Ravana wrote these lines to praise Lord Shiva. It is said that this drives out all bad or negative energy.
The Shiv Tandav Stotram is a representation of Lord Shiva’s cosmic dance. The hymn consists of fifteen lines, each of which gives a detailed description of the courageous Shiva and his everlasting beauty.
Alongside Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva is also a part of Tridev who is mainly responsible for the destruction of the universe according to Sanatan Dharma.
One of the famous places where Lord Shiva used to live other than Kashi is Kedarnath, which is situated in Uttarakhand in today’s time, 3584 meters above sea level. Every Shiv bhakt wishes to visit this at least once in a lifetime.
But along with Kailash Parvat, Kedarnath is also known to have many mysteries. It is believed to be one of the oldest buildings, made by modern interlocking technology — the technology which is believed to have been discovered in the 19th century.
Kedarnath is also mentioned in Skand Puran which was written in the 7th century. From this, we can imagine how old Kedarnath is. It is believed that Kedarnath Mandir was made by Pandavas, who ruled Hastinapur for 36 years.
After the Mahabharata ended, Pandavas were feeling guilty for killing their 100 brother (who was also known as Kauravas). With this guilt, they visited Rishi Ved Vyas(Grandfather of Kauravas and Pandavas) to find a solution to this guilt.
Rishi Ved Vyas suggested they to visit Shiva. They handed over their whole kingdom to Abhimanyu’s son Parikshit and went in search of Lord Shiva. Even after searching everywhere, the Pandavas could not find Lord Shiva. Since he could not find him, he went to Kedarnath to search for him.
When Lord Shiva saw the Pandavas coming, he took the form of Nandi and hid among the other cows and buffaloes. But Pandavas recognized him. Seeing Pandavas coming towards him, he slowly started sinking into the earth. But the Pandavas caught him by a part of his back.
Then Pandavas confessed their guilt to Lord Shiva as well. Then Lord Shiva forgave them and guided them toward the heaven. Then Pandavas created a Mandir at the place where they met Lord Shiva and the part of the back that was caught by them is worshiped as Shiv Linga.
But this Mandir is very mysterious. From 13 th century to 17 th Century, there was a high snowfall and snowslide in that area. That was known as the Mini Ice Age. This snowfall destroyed many houses for 400 years but didn't affect Kedarnath Mandir at all. It survived nicely at that time.
Again in 2013, there was a a huge flood in Uttarakhand. There was destruction everywhere. People were scared. Some people went inside the temple and took shelter.
Suddenly they saw that a big stone stopped at some distance from the temple. Because of that stone, all the other stones were not able to harm the temple. All the stones were either breaking after hitting that big stone or changing their path.
Don’t know whether it was any coincidence or anything else. But it is said that Kaal Bhairav — the anger version of Shiv Ji, is protecting the Kedarnath Mandir. Alongside Kedarnath Mandir, Kaal Bhairav is also protecting the Kashi City which was made by Lord Shiv himself.
What are your views on all these?
Let me know in the comment section.
Thanks for reading!
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