SHIVA, Rudranath (Cave of)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A so-called natural rock temple of dubious nature, character and dimensions, which is dedicated to Shiva venerated as Rudranath (note 1). SITUATION: On the Panch Keder Trek (note 2): Rudranath is where the face of Shiva had appeared. Here there is a natural rock temple, in which the Shiva Mukha is worshipped. APPROACH: To reach Rudranath, you have to trek through alpine meadows and dense forests, crossing an altitude of more than 4000 metres (tourismofindia.com accessed 05.09.2004). From Kalpeshwar (see: –>Jatashankar Gufa, Kalpeshvar / Kalpeshwar) … you go to Gopeswar [note 3] by road and then to Sagar. From there it is a 24 km trek to Rudranath, dedicated to the mouth of Lord Siva. The Rudraganga flows by this temple. […] To get to Rudranath you can also walk from Kalpeswara [note 4] (vegetarian-restaurants.net accessed 2005.10.06) . CULTURAL HISTORY - Cave legend: The Pandava brothers of Mahabharata fame decided to pay homage to Shiva but the latter was not interested in meeting thm, only because the Pandavas were guilty of the most heineous crime possible, viz. -gotra hatya- (killing their brethren). Seeing the Pandavas coming, the Lord disguised himself as a bull. But the Pandavas saw through Shiva's disguise. Realizing that his disguise had not worked, the bull tried to plunge himself underground. But Bhima was swift and held on the hind legs of the bull, thus preventing the beast from vanishing. In the struggle that ensued, different parts of Lord Shiva's body appeared at various places in Kedarkhand. The forehead showed up at Pashupatinath in Katmandu (Nepal), the hump of the bull at Kedarnath, the navel including the torso at Madhmaheshwar, the arms at Tungnath, the face at Rudranath, and the matted hair (Jatashankar) at Kalpeshwar in the beautiful valley of Urgam.A so-called natural rock temple of dubious nature, character and dimensions, which is dedicated to Shiva venerated as Rudranath (note 1). SITUATION: On the Panch Keder Trek (note 2): Rudranath is where the face of Shiva had appeared. Here there is a natural rock temple, in which the Shiva Mukha is worshipped. APPROACH: To reach Rudranath, you have to trek through alpine meadows and dense forests, crossing an altitude of more than 4000 metres (tourismofindia.com accessed 05.09.2004). From Kalpeshwar (see: –>Jatashankar Gufa, Kalpeshvar / Kalpeshwar) … you go to Gopeswar [note 3] by road and then to Sagar. From there it is a 24 km trek to Rudranath, dedicated to the mouth of Lord Siva. The Rudraganga flows by this temple. […] To get to Rudranath you can also walk from Kalpeswara [note 4] (vegetarian-restaurants.net accessed 2005.10.06) . CULTURAL HISTORY - Cave legend: The Pandava brothers of Mahabharata fame decided to pay homage to Shiva but the latter was not interested in meeting thm, only because the Pandavas were guilty of the most heineous crime possible, viz. -gotra hatya- (killing their brethren). Seeing the Pandavas coming, the Lord disguised himself as a bull. But the Pandavas saw through Shiva's disguise. Realizing that his disguise had not worked, the bull tried to plunge himself underground. But Bhima was swift and held on the hind legs of the bull, thus preventing the beast from vanishing. In the struggle that ensued, different parts of Lord Shiva's body appeared at various places in Kedarkhand. The forehead showed up at Pashupatinath in Katmandu (Nepal), the hump of the bull at Kedarnath, the navel including the torso at Madhmaheshwar, the arms at Tungnath, the face at Rudranath, and the matted hair (Jatashankar) at Kalpeshwar in the beautiful valley of Urgam.