"Why is Lord Kedarnath called 'Jagrut Mahadev'? This two minute story will give you goosebumps" Once a Shiva devotee left his village on a journey to Kedarnath Dham. Long ago, during that period there were no facilities for transportation, so he travelled on foot. Whoever he met on the way, he would ask the path for Kedarnath. He used to meditate Lord Shiva in his mind. He passed months walking. Final ly one day, he reached Kedar Dham. In Kedarnath temple, doors will open only for 6 months and will remain closed for the next 6 months. He arrived at the time when the temple doors were closing. He told Pandit ji that he has come from a long distance after traveling for months. He prayed to Pandit ji, "Please open the doors and let me see the Lord." But there is a rule, once closed, the doors will not be re-opened for the next 6months. Rules are rules. So, he cried a lot. He remembered Lord Shiva again and again, he payed to the God to just give him darshan once. He was praying for a long time and loudly but nobody listened to his prayers. Later, Pandit ji came and told him to come there only after 6 months, and that only after 6 months the doors would open. 6 months of snow and cold was yet to co me. And everyone left the place. He kept crying over and over. That night, he continued crying and it became dark all around. But he had faith on his Shiva, that he would definitely bless him. He was very hungry and thirsty too. He heard someone coming. He saw a 'monk baba' coming towards him. The 'sanyasi baba' came to him and sat beside him. He asked him, "Where did you come from Son?". He told him about the whole situation and said, his coming there was in vain to the Baba ji. Baba ji explained to him the entire rules and also gave him food. And then Baba kept talking to him for a long time. Baba ji felt pity on him. He said, "Son, I think the temple will open in the morning. You will definitely have a darshan of Lord Shiva." Nobody knew when this devotee fell asleep while talking to the Baba j i. When the devotee's eyes opened, he saw the light of the sun. He searched for the Baba here and there, but he was nowhere. Before he could understand anything, he saw Pandit ji was coming back along with his whole group. He bowed down to the priest and said, "Yesterday you had said that the temple will open only after 6 months? And in the meantime no one would come here, but you came this morning". Pandit ji looked at him carefully, tried to identify him and asked, "Are you the one who came when the door of the temple was closed? The one who came here 6 months ago!". The man was surprised and said, "No, I didn't go anywhere. You met me yesterday, I slept here the whole night. I haven't gone anywhere". Pandit ji wasn't surprised. Mithun A TO Z INDIA JULY 2022 PAGE 13 Cultural India: "Why is Lord Kedarnath called 'Jagrut Mahadev'?"