Indianomads

Pancha Kedar

(The Five Holy Abode of Lord Shiva)

Legend: The Pandavas (a royal dynasty from the great epic Mahabharata) went to Garhwal Himalayas, in search of Shiva. Bhima, the second of the five Pandava brothers, then standing astride two mountains started to look for Shiva. He saw a bull grazing near Guptakashi (“hidden Kashi” — the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva). Bhima immediately recognized the bull to be Shiva. Bhima caught hold of the bull by its tail and hind legs. But the bull-formed Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tunganath, the navel (nabhi) and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheshwar, the face showing up at Rudranath and the matted hair and the head appearing in Kalpeshwar. The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for venerating and worshipping Shiva. These places are still venerated and Holy for the hindus and all worshippers of Shiva till today.