Rudraprayag: Guptkashi in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district is visited by a large number of people from across the world for its scenic beauty, as well as for the various ancient temples. Located near the Mandakini river, Guptkashi is also considered as the holy city of Uttarakhand. Surrounded by snowy hills, greenery, cultural heritage and pleasant weather of Chaukhamba hills, this city is a perfect holiday destination for tourists.
Apart from sceneries, Vishwanath Temple and Ardhanarishvara temple in Guptkashi city are also a major attraction. The ancient temples of this city belong to the Mahabharata period. The city even got its name from the Pandavas.
Mythology related to Vishwanath temple in Guptkashi:
As per the mythgology, when there was a war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, in Kurukshetra, within Haryana, the Pandavas had killed many people and their brothers, due to the same they had many guilts. The Pandavas were supposed to seek forgiveness from Lord Shiva, but he was irked with the Pandavas as during that war they had killed the devotees of Lord Shiva as well. Lord Shiva was meditating at this place in the Himalayas and when he came to know that the Pandavas were coming to this place, he took the form of a bull (Nandi) and disappeared or rather became 'gupt', and henceforth the place was given the name - Guptkashi.
Lord Shiva disappeared here (Guptkashi) and reappeared in five places - 'Panchkedar' - Madmaheshwar, Rudranath, Tungnath, Kalpeshwar and Kedarnath. This is the reason why the Vishwanath temple in Guptkashi has the same recognition as that of Panchkedar.
Another temple situated here is Ardhanarishvara, which means half-male and half-female (Lord Shiva combined with his consort Godess Parvati). It is believed that Lord Shiva had proposed marriage to Goddess Parvati here and after that the marriage was solemnised in Triyuginarayan temple.
The architectural style of this temple is similar to other temples in Uttarakhand, this temple remains the same as Kedarnath temple. At the apex of the entrance is an image of 'Bhairav', a fearsome form of Lord Shiva. There is a pool in the temple complex which is called Manikarnika Kund - a holy tank, where two streams of water keeps on flowing. The water of this pool represents the Ganga (Bhagirathi) and Yamuna rivers.
—IANS