Notes on the river Mandākinī

Note: this text is extracted from Book XII, chapter 83

“The king [Vīradeva] went with her to the bank of the Mandākinī, and propitiated Śiva with austerities, in order to obtain a son. And after he had remained a long time engaged in austerities, he performed the ceremonies of bathing and praying, and then he heard this voice from heaven, uttered by Śiva, who was pleased with him”

This river [Mandākinī] joins the Alaknandā at Rudraprayāg, and rises at Kedārnāth, the famous temple in the Gaṛhwāl District of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (see Vol. VI, p. 88). It should not be confused with a river of the same name mentioned by Kālidāsa in the Mālavikāgnimitra (see Tawney’s translation, p. 7n², where he points out that the Narmadā is probably meant here).

The twin peaks of Kedārnāth and Badarīnāth (see Ocean, Vol. IV, p. 159 n ¹) rise at a distance of ten miles apart, and between these lies the temple, which ranks as one of the twelve famous liṅga shrines in India. Although it was an important religious centre in Buddhist times, it was not until the arrival of the Śaiva reformer, Śañkarācārya, about the beginning of the eighth century, that it attained its greatest sanctity as a place of holy pilgrimage. Situated at a height of over 11,000 feet, among roses and syriṅga bushes on the eternal snow, it is said to have a strange effect on pilgrims.

Crooke tells us (Hastings’ Ency. Rel. Eth., vol. vii, p. 680) that the sanctity of the place has been explained by the fact that pilgrims become overpowered by the strong scent of the flowers. “This,” he continues, "combined with the rarity of the air, produces a sense of faintness, which is naturally attributed to spirit agency, while the strange sounds produced by falling avalanches and rendings of the ice and snow doubtless contribute to the same belief.” For further details concerning Kedārnāth and other sacred places in the neighbourhood, see Crooke (op. cit. sup.) and the numerous references there given—N.M.P.