The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
केदारनाथ मन्दिर
Kedarnath (3,583 m), Uttarakhand · 30.7352°, 79.0669°
The highest and remotest of the twelve Jyotirlingas, open only about six months a year among glacier peaks at 3,583 m. Adi Shankara is held to have attained samadhi behind the shrine. In the 2013 Himalayan floods that devastated the valley, a massive boulder — now revered as Bhimshila — lodged behind the temple and split the torrent, leaving the 1,200-year-old shrine standing.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Seeking absolution after Kurukshetra, the Pandavas pursued Shiva, who dived into the earth as a bull; his hump surfaced here — the conical rock worshipped in the sanctum — while other parts emerged at the four other Panch Kedar shrines.
16 km trek from Gaurikund (ponies/palki/heli from Phata); registration via Uttarakhand tourist-care portal.
☏ +91-7302257116 (from the official site, verified 2026-08-26)
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Katyuri era
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…