Do Dham Yatra -Kedarnath Shrine by Helicopter-A mystical journey.

In my Do Dham yatra,in first part I had covered Badrinath temple and then arrived at Phata Helipad , by the same helicopter .It took about 50 Mnts to reach Phata from Badrinath.

At Phata we changed another shuttle Helicopter after 15Mnts. That took about 8 Mnts to reach Kedarnath Helipad, which is very near to the main temple. Weather was fine today ( As weather is highly unpredictable in this region, it may suddenly change and start raining ,so you must  wear woolen clothes and have  one umbrella. There was  bright sunshine  today ,but it was colder than Badrinath ,so I put on my cap .We walked on foot and after crossing a small bridge on Mandakini  river ,reached at the foot-steps of Kedarnath temple.

Ascended upwards through many steps .Oxygen level was little low at this height, so we walked slowly to avoid breathlessness. Reached at a big platform in front of the temple. Took some rest and prepared the Pooja thali for VIP darshan . While sitting and watching the facade of the temple, I went into the flash -back nightmare memory of  16/17 June 1913, when great devastation occurred at this place, due to the furry of nature. Probably Nature is supreme. After torrential rain and cloudburst, suddenly there was huge amount of gush of water along-with rocks, boulders and silt from the above Chorabari Tal, downward, which washed away, everything which came in its path. Many thousand peoples had died and many injured and stranded at places .Whole area was filled with dead bodies. Although everything around the temple and its compound was washed away with flood, main temple remained, protected by a huge boulder, which stucked, just behind the temple. I took snaps of this rock, which saved the temple and idol of   Kedarnathji. Scenery of  this Himalayan range is great. . Behind the temple  stands the majestic Keadarnath peak at the height of about 22000 feet .Changing shapes of clouds

making unique pattern and giving weather a quick turn ,are simply magical scenarios of Kedarnath region. Just before the temple is a big statue of Nandi bull,who is the Vehicle of Lord Shiva. .In sanctum, the idol of Kedarnathji  is in the form of a rough conical –hump( Pindi) .Since we had VIP Pooja permission so we did short darshan and touched the Jyotirlingam. It was great moment for us . It is only posterior half (Prist-Bhag)of the Jyotirling ,as its front half  is enshrined in the Pasupatinath temple of  Kathmandu Nepal.That is why it is said that Darshan of Kedarnath ji incomplete till you also visit Pasupatinath temple of Nepal, which is also known as13th Jyotirling. I was simply fascinated by the mystical charm of this temple and Kedareshwar hill range, which will stay in my memory for long time to come .                                     sctri48 Satish Tripathi     sctri48@gmail.com  .