Uttarakhand: Shankaracharya, chief priest lock horns over Kedarnath jyotirlingam pooja rites

Kedarnath, Jun 26: As Kedarnath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines, stands desolate amid ruins all around, a nasty fight has broken out between Jagatguru Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopananda Sarasawati and the head priest (Rawal) Bhimashankara Linga over the manner in which fresh pooja rites have to be performed, with mud and slush entering the shrine, and bodies lying all around even ten days after the devastation. The head priest Rawal has been appointed through generations by Adiguru Shankaracharya in the 8th century, expressly for the purpose of performing pooja of the holy Jyotirlingam. After the river Mandakini devastated Kedarnath town on June 16 night, the chief priest Rawal says, he and his disciples performed the last pooja on June 17 morning, and took away the idol of Kedarnath with them to Garudchatti for safekeeping. It was taken to Vishwanath temple in Guptakashi, and from there on June 24, it was consecrated at Onkareshwar temple in Ukhimath, the winter sojourn of Lord Kedarnath. "Since then, the pooja is being performed daily at Ukhimath. At present, no pooja can be performed in the Kedarnath shrine, because of "maran-sootak" (rites despoiled by death). The pooja at Kedarnath can resume only after the temple committee and local administration clears off the mess, and "shuddikaran" (purification) rites will be performed", said the chief Rawal Bhima Shankara Shivacharya Mahaswami.Annually, when the doors of Kedarnath are closed in autumn for a long wintry sleep till the onset of spring, the idol of Kedarnath are traditionally carried away to Ukhimath by the priests (rawals) for performing pooja during the winter. Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand has a different take. He says, once the doors of Kedarnath shrine are opened, the priests including the Chief Rawal, are not supposed to leave the place, come what may. "By leaving the shrine, the priests have lost the divine right to perform pooja of Kedarnath jyotirlingam. So long as the doors of Kedarnath shrine are open, there cannot be parallel pooja at Ukhimath. The rawals (priests) must be sacked", he says. The shankaracharya has a dire warning for the nation if the pooja of Lord Kedarnath is not resumed at the earliest."If the pooja of the sacred lingam at Kedarnath shrine is not performed soon, India will face a great danger. There can be risk of the Chinese soldiers intruding. I will meet the President and ask him to intervene", said the Shankaracharya.The shankaracharya says, a lot of disinformation is being disseminated by the government. "One one hand, they say 10-feet high mud and rubble is lying in the shrine, and on the other, it is saying the three-feet high jyotirlingam is intact. Which one is true?", asked the saint. The chief priest Rawal Bhima Shankara Linga Shivacharaya Mahaswami says, the shankaracharya does not know the traditional pooja rites at Kedarnath. The chief Rawal can assign any one of his five disciples to perform pooja of Lord Kedarnath throughout the year, he said. On Monday, Lord Kedarnath's pooja was performed at Ukhimath, and since then daily pooja is in progress. Meanwhile, it was decided on Tuesday at a conclave of sadhus and saints under the presidentship of Shankaracharya, that a 11-member delegation of sadhus will go to Kedarnath on Thursday, clear up the holy shrine, do the purification rites, and begin performing pooja of the sacred Jyotirlingam, consecrated in the 8th century by Adiguru Shankaracharya. The sadhus gave a deadline of Wednesday evening to the government to clean up the holy shrine. Asked if the government failed to clean up the shrine by Wednesday evening, the shankaracharaya said: "The government must perform by this deadline. It is the nation's interest. The holy jyotirlingam cannot be left without pooja for such a long period. The sadhus will go by helicopter to Kedarnath on Thursday, perform the kaar seva (purification) and then the pooja of the holy lingam".