Though the Kedarnath Valley, which houses one of the most famous and revered Hindu shrines of Kedarnath Temple, one of the 12 'jyotirlingas' (holiest shrines of Lord Shiva), has several ancient caves, the one in which prime minister Narendra Modi began meditation, is not a natural one.
The cave, called 'Rudra' (Shiva) Cave, was built last year and was situated around one kilometre away from the temple. Incidentally, it was Modi, who had suggested to build a cave near the shrine, sources said.
The Cave was also promoted by the Uttarakhand government as a major tourist attraction for the pilgrims, who visited the Kedarnath Shrine and wanted to spend some quiet time.
Though a place for meditation, the Rudra Cave has every facility a meditator will not normally look for. It has a telephone, power and food is also served to the individual.
The five-metre long and three-metre wide cave, which had been built, on the left side of the mountain of the shrine, was situated at a height of 12 thousand ft and had room for only one person for meditation.
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