Is it a Miracle or Architectural Engineering that saved Kedarnath temple from destruction?

22nd June 2013
I am disheartened, pained, shocked and grieved at seeing this massive destruction caused by the natural phenomenon resulting in great loss of human lives and devastation of unprecedented magnitude to the immovable properties all around the Temple structure.But at the same time I am proud of our heritage and marvel at the creation of the Kedarnath Temple complex which was built about 1200yrs ago. Imagine today in this age of high technology we find it difficult to even reach the temple place by foot or by horse /pony ride etc, many people take helicopter ride to & fro for the darshan , nothing great, but building a temple at a height of more than 10000 ft is a marvel of Architectural Engineering and Human endevour, and more so amazed at when it stays intact even after recent nature's outburst because such and similar occurrences may have happened several times in the past in these 1200yrs of its existence.

Beautiful serene view of the Kedarnath Temple with backdrop of Kedarnath Mount , 

Image taken some 50/60yrs ago.

 

Kedarnath Temple Aeriel View before the Devastation.

Many people say it's a miracle of God that the Kedarnath Shrine, The Temple and the Nandi outside the Temple is intact inspite of the magnitude of destruction all around the Temple.           I would say the other way , the God was saved because of the Sound Architectural Engineering of the builders of this Temple, constructed some 1200yrs ago. I personally marvel at it's creation , It can be considered as one of the greatest man made wonders of the world. Such was the power of the Temple that those pilgrims who were inside the temple at the time of the cloud burst & tragedy have survived.

God will not show you mercy if your building or any structure is of inferior quality or does not possesses sound engineering, god will not save you if you go against the principles of  Nature (God), God will not save you if you counter the natural course of rivers and oceans. God will not save you if you destroy the forest and eco systems on earth.
After this destruction, many people have described it as a Himalayan Tsunami, I would say it is a Human Tsunami, most people have this question in minds that will a similar catastrophe become the reason for the world to come to an end? All religious scriptures have mentioned about destruction of earth. It is an age-old belief that one day the whole world will be destroyed.
Every religion has defined Holocaust in different ways. Till now many times forecasts have been made about the devastation. As per some texts, the destruction of the world will be due to water when there will be water everywhere flooding the earth.

According to the Hindu Religious scriptures, with the creation of the universe, there are beliefs about its destruction as well. According to Shrimadbhagwat, it is believed that the universe will end after two eons. Eons mean 2,000 Chataryug. Chataryug implies to the Satyug, Tretayaug, Dwaparyug and Kalyug. So when the four yugs complete one cycle thousand times, it is one eon. Similarly, upon completion of the second eon comes Holocaust i.e. destruction of creation.  After this re-creation happens and the same trend continues.
The Kedarnath temple is one of the most revered shrines in India and is visited by millions of devotees every year. An appeal to all Hindu devotees and those who follow Hinduism around  should come forward and donate generously to  the “Kedarnath Temple Trust” for the restoration of this beautiful Temple. Also , all are requested to donate for the affected people of the Uttarkhand to any recognized Disaster Relief Fund.
On personal count, I am donating Rs1100/- for the disaster affected people and Rs.1500/- for the restoration of Temple.

Article by

Shekhar Bopardikar  

Architect &

Nature and WildLife Photographer