GAURIKUND PILGRIMAGE SITE (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Geography)

Context: Three people have been killed and 17 others are missing after a landslide triggered by heavy rains hit Gaurikund, an important stop on the Kedarnath yatra route in Uttarakhand.

• The Char Dham roads, popularly known as ‘all-weather roads’, are ready. But incidents of extremely intense rains and landslides continue to increase the risk of the yatra.
• Thousands of pilgrims are arriving at the ‘Char Dham’ - the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath - and the Sikh religious site of Hemkund Sahib even amid weather warnings.

Gauri Kund

• Gauri Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage site and base camp for trek to Kedarnath Temple, in Uttarakhand.
• It is situated at an altitude of 6502 feet above mean sea level in the Garhwal Himalayas.
• Anekadhangavadeswarar is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam, the 275 temples revered in the canon.
• Gauri Kund is associated with Shiva's wife, Parvati, who is also known as Gauri. 
• This place is also associated with the legend of how Ganesha acquired his elephant head.