KEDER NATH @ KETHER NATH

 Kedarnath Jyothir-linga Temple(Lord Shiva)      

   kedarnath is located in himalaya mountain in uttarkant state.Kedarnath is a holy town for hindu relgion. It is a nagar panchayat in Rudraprayag district located in the Indian state of  Uttarakhand. Kedarnath is located in the Himalayas, about 3584m above sea level near the head  of river  Mandakini, and is flanked by breathtaking snow-capped peaks making it most remote site among all four char dham sites.

       The Kedarnath Temple, and is a popular destination for Hindu pilgrims from all over the world, being one of the four major sites in India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage. The temple is believed to have been built by Adi Sankaracharya and is named in honor of King Kedar who ruled in the Satya Yuga. The Kedarnath temple existed from the times of Mahabharata, when the Pandavas are supposed to have pleased Shiva by doing penance in Kedarnath. Kedarnath is located at 30°44'N 79°04'E30.73°N 79.07°E. It has an average elevation of 3,553 metres (11,657 feet). During winter due to heavy snowfall, the temple is open only between the end of April to Kartik Purnima (the autumn full moon). During the winters, the murtis (idols) from Kedarnath temple are brought to Ukhimath and worshipped there for six months. In this region, Lord Shiva is worshipped as Kedarnath, the 'Lord of Kedar Khand', the historical name of the region.

When Palki of Lord Kedarnath is transferred, People shift their settlement too from  Kedarnath to nearby villages. Around 360 families of Tirtha Purohit of 55 villages and other nearby villages are dependent on Kedarnath for livelihood. The temple opens on Akshaya Tritiya (April end or first week of May) and closes on Bhai Duj (October end or 1st week of November) due to heavy snowfall and extreme cold weather during winter. In between Rudraprayag and Kedarnath there are several places of pilgrimage such as Agastyamuni, Ukhimath, Phauli- Pasalat Devi Maa, Bamsu (Lamgoundi) Vanasur, Maa Kali at Kalimath, Trijugi Narayan (7 km from Son Prayag) (Where Lord Shankar got married to Goddess Parwati from when the fire of hawan kund is still alive) and Kashi Vishwanath at Guptakashi.

THE GEO-INFORMATICS

                                  THE GEO-INFORMATICS

1. What is Geo-informatics?

Geoinformatics encompasses a collection of special techniques, technologies, and tools for the acquisition, processing, management, analysis, and presentation of geospatial data. Geoinformatics is based on a range of synergetic activities including geospatial modeling, geospatial analysis, geospatial databases, geospatial technologies, information systems, systems design, spatial cognition, human-computer interaction, mobile computing, wired and wireless network technologies. Today, numerous applications are benefiting from geoinformatics techniques, technologies, and tools and with recent advances in geoinformatics and related technologies, such as Web services and grid computing, new geoprocessing paradigms and applications are expected to emerge.

2.Means ,Geoinformatics has been described as "the science and technology dealing with the structure and character of spatial information, its capture, its classification and qualification, its storage, processing, portrayal and dissemination, including the infrastructure necessary to secure optimal use of this information" or "the art, science or technology dealing with the acquisition, storage, processing production, presentation and dissemination of geoinformation".


Geomatics is a similarly used term which encompasses geoinformatics, but geomatics focuses on surveying. Geoinformatics has at its core the technologies supporting the processes of acquiring, analyzing and visualizing spatial data. Both geomatics and geoinformatics include and rely heavily upon the theory and practical implications of geodesy.


Geography and earth science increasingly rely on digital spatial data acquired from remotely sensed images analyzed by geographical information systems (GIS) and visualized on paper or the computer screen.
Geoinformatics combines geospatial analysis and modeling, development of geospatial databases, information systems design, human-computer interaction and both wired and wireless networking technologies. Geoinformatics uses geocomputation and geovisualization for analyzing geoinformation.
Branches of geoinformatics include:
1. Cartography
2. Geodesy
3. Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
4. Global Navigation Satellite Systems
5. Photogrammetry
6. Remote Sensing
7. Web Mapping

Applications;

Many fields benefit from geoinformatics, including urban planning and land use management, in-car navigation systems, virtual globes, public health, local and national gazetteer management, environmental modeling and analysis, military, transport network planning and management, agriculture, meteorology and climate change, oceanography and coupled ocean and atmosphere modelling, business location planning, architecture and archeological reconstruction, telecommunications, criminology and crime simulation, aviation and maritime transport.