Kedarnath is a town in Rudraprayag district in the state of Uttarakhand in India and has gained importance because of the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarter. It is a Nagar panchayat in the Rudraprayag district. Kedarnath is the most remote of the four Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites.
Kedarnath has been a pilgrimage centre since ancient times. The temple’s construction is credited to the Pandava brothers mentioned in the Mahabharata. However, the Mahabharata does not mention any place called Kedarnath. One of the earliest references to Kedarnath occurs in the Skanda Purana (c. 7th-8th century), which names Kedara (Kedarnath) as the place where Lord Shiva released the holy waters of Ganga from his matted hair, resulting in the formation of the Ganges River.
