Kedareshwar is a Shiva temple in
Himalayas which is one of the twelve jyotirlingas. According to Kashi
Khand, one gentleman performed the upnayanam ceremony of his son named Vashisht
at Ujjain. The boy, Vashisht, was very religious and performed all poojas
including Linga pooja etc. He used to visit Kedareshwar Temple in
Himalayas alongwith his Guru regularly and perform pooja of Lord Kedareshwar.
Once, on the way to Kedareshwar, the
Guru died unfortunately and since he had all along done only good deeds, he
found a place for himself at Mount Kailas. Vashisht who was 12 at that
time, got an enlightenment that those who go for having darshan of Kedareshwar
are blessed with all punyas. He then went and settled down at Kashi.
But on all Chaitra Month Poornima
days (March 20-April 21), Vashisht (who remained a Brahmachari) used to visit
Kedareshwar Ling at Himalayas and this went on for 61 years. But due to
old age, he could not move out and he started praying to Lord Shiva at
Kashi. Lord Shiva blessed him with a wish and Vashisht requested that
Lord Shiva should kindly appear at Kashi itself as Kedareshwar.
Lord Shiva was overwhelmed with the
sincerity and devotion of Vashisht and granted accordingly. He appeared
as Kedareshwar at Kashi and told Vashisht that performing pooja at Kedareshwar
at Kashi will yield seven times greater punya as compared to performing pooja
at Kedareshwar at Himalayas (Kashi Khand, Chapter 77).
Varanasi's ghats seen from an early morning sunrise river boat. The
video was filmed on the way back to Dashaswamedh Ghat. It starts at the
Ganges riverbank holy cremation ground, with funeral pyres burning at
the sacred Manikarnika Ghat, then Raja Ghat for washing purpose comes
into view, followed by Kedar Ghat with the Kedareshwar Temple.
Gauri Kund, Hans teerth and
Manasarovar teerth find mention in Kashi Khand in reference to Kedareshwar but
now only Gauri Kund remains. Manasarovar and Hans Teerth have dried up.
People observe vrath (fast) on
Chaitra Month (March 20-April 20) Krishna Paksha Chaturdasi and break their
fast on Poornima day, the next day, after performing pooja of
Kedareshwar. This is as stated in Kashi Khand where Vashisht used to pray
Lord Kedareshwar on Chaitra Poornima days (as mentioned in para above).
Kashi is divided into three Khands,
Omkar Khand, Vishweshwar Khand and Kedar Khand. It is believed that a
person who dies in Kashi attains Mukti. Going a step further, if the
person dies in the area governed by Kedar Khand, he obtains immediate mukti
while in other two Khands, there are some sort of hardships to be faced.
On all India basis there are twelve
Jyotirlings and there are twelve important Shiv Lings in Kashi which represent
the aforesaid twelve Jyotirlings. Kedareshwar (Varanasi) is worshipped as
Kedareshwar Jyotirling (Uttarakhand).
LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE
Kedareshwar temple is located at
B-6/102, Kedar Ghat which is a famous locality. It is approachable by cycle
rickshaw. Alternatively, people can travel upto a locality called
Sonarpura by Car or Auto rickshaw and travel on foot. People may also travel
by boat to Kedar Ghat and walk up the steps directly into the temple.
TYPES OF POOJAS
The temple is open for worship 03.00
a.m. to 11.00 p.m. Mangala Aarti is performed at 03.15 a.m., 2nd
Aarti at 10.00 a.m., 3rd Aarti at 05.30 p.m. and Shayan Aarti
at 10.30 p.m.
Important days are Ekadasi,
Pradosham and Poornima days. Anna Abhishek is performed once in a year.
In this ritual, the Shiv Ling is covered with cooked rice.
Taking bath in Ganges on every
Monday and performing pooja/abhishek of Lord Kedareshwar is very auspicious.
Much importance to attached to poojas on Mondays during Shravan month (July 23
to August 20) and most importantly on last Monday of that month. It is
believed that performing Shraaddh ceremony on Amavasya which falls on Tuesday
at Kedar Ghat is very auspicious.
The poojas at the temple are
performed by Kumaraswamy Mutt of Tamil Nadu. For doing special pooja
etc., it is advisable to consult the Poojari before hand.
(Recitation by Pt. Nageshwara Rao of
Hyderabad.)
Please put on the speakers attached
to your System and click on the mp3 file above).
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