TEMPLE RUN

A few days ago Aditi showed me a YouTube shorts showing a couple proposing. So what's new??. The only thing which was different was its premise. Well! No exotic locales,no beach and no Eiffel tower. It was at an altitude of almost 11k feet..... No not Alps. It was the sacred premises of Kedarnath temple, one of the 12 jyotirlinga in our beautiful country. The viral video got into the eyes of the admin guys of the shrine who are, as I read today's TOI, on the verge of banning mobiles in its premises. Though it's quite subjective and debatable whether expression of love should happen in the premises of holy temple. Are gods against Pyar,Ishq and Mohabbat. I remember seeing a honeymoon couple exchanging their vows and expressing their love in...... cellular jail at Andaman,a place as holy as temple for me atleast.

A few months back a couple of my patients asked for few medicines as they were travelling for their summer vacation. On asking..... they told me..... Chardham. Their kids were 4-5 years old....... only. I was surprised. Meant only for elderly, this arduous journey was to be  taken by elderly people just to visit 4 holy shrines (Badrinath kedarnath Gangotri and Yamunotri) with 2 sacred rivers originating from the mountains. I remember even the mother of Ram-Lakhan went for Chardham Yatra. Ages ago when access was a big issue to reach these places,it was known to be the Yatra where one wouldn't be able to come back to this nether world. The journey used to start from Haridwar (Gates of Heaven)

My exposure to the Himalayas happened when my mother took me to Chardham Yatra way back in 1994. I had just lost my teenage  then. I was reluctant as the co-tourist....sorry yatris were all oldies. Floored by its rawness the mountains made me attracted and equally addicted to it and since then I am a regular to the hills and blessed to be in mountains once every year more than halftime of my life till today. Kedarnath....I've visited twice.

16kms of climb with a break at midway at Rambara wilth last 2kms of plateau in an open valley is just spellbound. Staying at Maharashtra mandal with Khichadi for lunch followed by visit to the temple with hardly any people around. No permits were required then. Most of my mates in medical college were oblivious these places as I was before setting up foot on this pious land. Second time I went in 1998 and this time we explored this valley and was mesmerized to no extent.

Kedarnath temple was built by Pandavas and discovered much later by Adi Shankaracharya

The shiva-linga is of a shape of a buttock of a bull

There's a samadhi of adi Shankaracharya just behind the temple

Holy river Mandakini has its origins in the glaciers of peaks behind kedarnath.

During monsoon the valley is filled with flowers giving stiff competition to the original Valley of Flowers in the Badrinath region.

One can trek to Gangotri from Kedarnath 

Gaurikund,the place where one starts the journey to kedarnath has hot water spring

Few kms before kedarnath is a place called Trijuginarayan where Shiva-Parvati got married.

Ashes of Father of nation are emersed in a lake called Chorbaria, 3kms above kedarnath valley.

(The pic has been taken from the lake)

Heaven it is for its sheer beauty......it's becoming heaven for tourists though it has its own repurcations. Pony-wallas  earn more than Helicopters in a given season that's the footfall of this newfound tourist destination. A maximum of 13k people can visit kedarnath in a day and till now 7 lakhs have already visited this fragile young mountain. Is this too much of a load?? Are these places a hill-stations??  And who can forget the tragedy that occurred in 2013. 

Has Kedarnath become a hillstation or its still a pilgrimage place?? Whether one should make reels and shorts in the premises of the temple or profess the love.....etc etc.It's subjective and very much debatable.