The Himalayas, the mind-blowing marvel …!
The hind side of Lord Siva in the form of a buffalo became a lingam, the ‘sthalapurana’ says …
The temples on the Himalayas are usually opened in the end of April or beginning of May. They are closed after Diwali. There will be nirvana darshan in the morning and singara darshan in the evening. And, palpog, maha abhishekam, rudrabhishekam, ashodar are done in the morning while Shiva ashtothram, Shiv Sahasranamam, shiv namavali and Shiv sthothras and Ekantha seva are done in the evening. Devotees perform ghee abhishekam and embrace the lingam.
Sites to be seen in Kedarnath
Apart from the Kedarnath temple, Gandhi Sarovar Lake at a distance of ¾ km and Vasuki Lake at 5 km distance are to be visited without fail. Kedarnath is the place where Adhi Sankara merged with Lord Shiva. His Samadhi is also there. Kedarnath is a holy place where sins are neutralized. Slokas are written in different languages in the praharam. Lingashtakam in Tamil has been inscribed on a stone!
The time was 1 o’clock in the afternoon. The trio who went in a doli was not to be seen yet. A priest advised us to leave, telling that snow would cover all the places soon and so it was better to leave. Within ten minutes dense snow covered the entire temple. We started suffocating due to shortage of oxygen. Many people lied down feeling giddy. But the snow crossed us in another ten minutes! We reached the place where horses and dolis were stationed. To our surprise, just then, we saw the doli of the trio coming towards the place. The six-month old Madhav could not bear the chill and was almost frozen. My brother’s wife had collected hot water from a tea shop, massaged his legs with camphor oil and poured hot water on them. This was the reason for the delay. My brother told us to proceed and said that he would take his wife, mother-in-law and my mother to the temple. In the meantime, three of our group who came on horse reported inability and we sent them in doli. Extra dolis will not be available. We sent the children each in a basket carried by hired men. We didn’t have even the time to think whether it would be safe. We, seven of us decided to climb down the hill. It was 5.30 p.m. when we had climbed down a distance of 7 km. with the help of a stick. Suddenly, it was very dark. We walked down the path with balls of fear rolling in our stomach. No single person could be seen in that darkness. Everything around was dark … dark … nothing but dark … Under our feet Mandakini River was flowing with a roaring sound … tall sky-reaching hill tops on the other side … intense chill that would melt even bones …we were tensed about our relatives who would be worried over our not returning … we were helpless and bewildered.
On the way there was a resting place for horses. When we enquired for hiring horses, they brought many. The horses kept on giving trouble as they were hungry and tired. Deep down, River Mandakini was flowing. We were afraid wondering whether we would return safely. All of us started praying to different Gods. The one-hour journey involving 3 km distance was so dreadful an experience that we could never forget it.
