Buddha Kedar temple: A hidden gem

Buddha Kedar Temple

I stopped at a small non-descript village called Jaspur for the night. It’s from here that I set off for Buddha Kedar temple. Buddha Kedar temple is not too far off from the Char Dham route. After exiting from the Char Dham route, the roads become narrow. But the scenery is exquisite. This was the best drive of the entire trip. Perhaps all of Uttarakhand might have looked like this before the advent of mass tourism. 

I am alone when I reach temple gates. Buddha Kedar temple hardly gets any visitors. Even the temple door is closed. I walk to a nearby shop and enquired when the temple re-opens. The shopkeeper tells me that the temple remains open during the day. As there were no visitors, the priest might have gone home. He told me to call the phone number posted on the temple door!

When I get back, there is an elderly couple at the temple. They had already called the priest on the number posted on the temple door. The priest should be here soon. We start talking. The couple tuned out to be husband and wife team of doctors. The wife was posted in this village and she knew the area quite well. She pointed out to an adjacent hillock thickly wooded with deodar trees. There is a Jwalamayi temple on the top of that hillock, she told me. Unlike other Jwalamayi temples, this one does not have an eternal flame. I won’t be able to make it there today. That’s a journey for another day!

The priest arrived and we enter the temple. The temple is a modern concrete building. Photography is prohibited inside the temple. This temple is said to have the largest Shiva Linagam in north India. But it does not have the conventional shape of a Shiva Lingam. The Shiva Lingam here is a large rectangular slab of granite. The temple is built around this ‘Lingam’. There are numerous carvings/ reliefs all over this large stone lingam. It is believed that the ‘carvings’ are not man-made; they are Swayambhoo (Self-made). When the priest pointed it out, I could see vaguely make out reliefs of Shiva, Parvathi, the 5 Pandavas, Draupadi, Nandi the bull (Shiva’s steed), Shiva’s trident, a Shiva lingam etc. The Shiva lingam inscribed on the large rectangular stone (a.k.a big Shiva Lingam) has a traditional shape. Praying at this Shiva Lingam is equivalent to undertaking pilgrimages to all the 12 Jyotir Lingams across India! 

The priest then narrated the legend of this temple. As the story goes in the epic Mahabharatam, Pandava brothers emerge victorious in battle. They regain their kingdom back and all is perfect; well almost. They are aware that cannot go to heaven because they have committed 2 major sins during battle. The first is sin called Brahma-Hatya; Sin of killing a Brahmin. The second unpardonable sin they have committed is called Kula-Hatya. This is the sin of killing someone from his own clan. To tide over their sins and reach heaven, they decided to meet Lord Shiva.

Lord Shivan gets wind of the Pandavas plan and he scoots. Undaunted, the Pandavas decide to track and trace Shiva. Reconnaissance teams narrowed Shiva’s location to a small village. When Pandavas arrive in hot pursuit, Shivan morphs into an old man. It’s a perfect disguise. The Pandavs cannot not see through the disguise. Buddha Kedar temple is located on the spot where Lord Shiva turned himself into an old man (Buddha in Hindi meaning old man).  

Pandavas persist with their search. They receive new reports that Shiva is in Kedarnath. When Pandava brothers arrive, Shiva turns himself into a bull and blends in seamlessly with the numerous other bulls in the pasture. Pandavas are certain that one of bulls is Shiva. But they can’t identify the exact bull. So they hit upon a plan. One of the Pandava brother called Bhiman stands with his leg across 2 mountains. The other brothers round up all the bulls and make them run between the mountains where Bhiman is standing. Shivan, the destroyer, will never pass under the legs of any other person. So the last bull standing is Shiva!

The drive to Buddha Kedar

Pandavas pounce on Shivan. Cornered, Shiva dives into the earth. Pandavas try to stop the bull by holding on to its hump. The bull continues to sink further into the earth. The strongest brother, Bhiman, also joins in. But the combined strength of 5 brothers is no match for Shiva. Realising that they cannot win, the brothers pray to Shiva. Shiva is happy and he re-appears back on the surface. Kedarnath temple is built at this location. Hence, the idol at Kedarnath is shaped like the hump of a bull!! On the Shiva Lingam at Buddha Kedar, is a vague relief that is supposed to represent Bhiman (I think!) with his hips above ground diving into the earth to catch Shiva.

Shiva is pleased with the Pandava brothers and he blesses them. He tells them about the time he outwitted them by morphing into an old man. Shiva tells them to pray at Buddha Kedar before returning to their kingdom. The Pandava brothers are only too happy to oblige. Hence, to get full efficacy, one has to visit Buddha Kedar temple after visiting Kedarnath shrine. This is the story the priest of Buddha Kedar narrated to me.  A quick internet search will reveal that there are many variations to this story. Buddha Kedar temple is still empty when I departed. I guess many people are not aware of the significance of this temple.

I drive back to my hotel at Jaspur. We stop at a small ramshackle shop beside the road. There are few plastic chars outside the shop. I sit there and savor the only items on the menu; tea and pakoda. It’s very quiet. The view from shop is extremely beautiful. I am well off the beaten path. The selfish part of me secretly wishes that Buddha Kedar will remain a hidden gem. 

Other blogs in this series 

• An epic journey to Yamunotri

• Flyers of Rishikesh: A photo blog

• 15 days in Uttarakhand