Panch Kedar (Sanskrit: पञ्चकेदार, romanized: Pañcakedāra), rendered Pancha Kedara in Sanskrit,[1] refers to five Hindu temples or holy places of the Shaivite sect dedicated to god Shiva. They are located in the Garhwal Himalayan region in Uttarakhand, India. They are the subject of many legends that directly link their creation to Pandavas, the heroes of the Indian epic Mahabharata.[2]
The five temples designated in the strict pecking order to be followed for pilgrimage for worship are the Kedarnath Temple (Sanskrit: केदारनाथ) at an altitude of 3,583 m (11,755 ft), the Tungnath Temple (तुङ्गनाथ)(3,680 m or 12,070 ft), the Rudranath Temple (रुद्रनाथ) (3,559 m or 11,677 ft), the Madhyamaheshwar Temple (मध्यमहेश्वर) or Madmaheshwar (3,490 m or 11,450 ft) and the Kalpeshwar Temple (कल्पेश्वर) (2,200 m or 7,200 ft). The Kedarnath is the main temple, which is part of four Chota Char Dhams (literally 'the small four abodes/seats') or pilgrimage centers of the Garhwal Himalayas; the other three dhams are the Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. Kedarnath is also one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.[3][4]
The Garhwal region is also called the Kedar-Khanda after Kedar — the local name for Shiva. The region abounds in emblems and aniconic forms of Shaiva sect of Shiva, much more than the Vaishnava sect. The western part of this region in particular, which constitutes half of Chamoli district being known as Kedar-Kshetra or Kedar mandala, encompasses in its ambit all the five temples constituting the Panch Kedar.[5]
Visitors to Kedarnath shrine, the first of the Panch Kedar temples for which records are available, was an impressive 557,923 in 2007 as against 87,629 in 1987, a quantum jump in 20 years.[6]
^Jacobsen, Knut A. (5 March 2013). Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition: Salvific Space. Routledge. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-136-24031-7.
^"Eight days of bliss". Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Harshwanti Bisht (1994). Tourism in Garhwal Himalaya. Indus Publishing. pp. 84–86. ISBN 9788173870064. Retrieved 5 July 2009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^"Chard Dham Yatra". Government of Uttarakhand, Official website. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
^J. C. Aggarwal; Shanti Swarup Gupta (1995). Uttarakhand: past, present, and future. Concept Publishing Company. p. 222. ISBN 9788170225720. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^"Number Of Pilgrims". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
the highest Shiva temples in the world and is the highest of the five PanchKedar temples located in the Rudraprayag district, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand...
and appeared at five locations in the Kedar Khand of Garhwal region of the Himalayas. After building the PanchKedar Temples, the Pandavas meditated at Kedarnath...
Madhyamaheshwar temples; all in the Kedar Khand region of the Garhwal Himalayas. Kalpeshwar is the only PanchKedar temple accessible throughout the year...
Himalayas where very few pilgrims go due to the difficulty it entails. PanchKedar Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap Download coordinates as: KML...
Alpine pastures. The temple is the second temple to be visited in the PanchKedar pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region...
केदार in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Kedar and Qedar may refer to: Shiva or Kedar, a Hindu god PanchKedar, five Hindu temples or holy places of the...
Situated at an elevation of 3,497 m (11,473.1 ft), it is one of the PanchKedar pilgrimage circuits, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region...
large influx of pilgrims who visit the state for the pilgrimage of the PanchKedar and Sapta Badri temples, large religious towns have developed. Pilgrims...
Temple, stands the majestic Kedarnath peak at 6,940 m (22,769 ft), the Kedar Dome at 6,831 m (22,411 ft) and other peaks of the range. As of the 2011...
India. For 4000 years people have been searching for the head of the PanchKedar temples, a bull who was Shiva in reality, who assumed the shape of a...
state, India and a base for trekking to Tungnath, the third temple of PanchKedar which lies 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) away. Located at a distance of 1.5...
built by the Pandavas.[citation needed] This is also the foremost of the PanchKedar Temples in Uttarakhand. Badrinath: the seat of the Hindu god Vishnu in...
It is situated on the trek route to Tungnath, the third temple of the PanchKedar and the highest Shiva temple in the world and Chandrashila, a summit...
located on the way to the Kedarnath, one of the Chota Char Dhams and PanchKedars. It has the scenic backdrop of the snow-covered peaks of Chaukhamba and...
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