names Kedara (Kedarnath) as the place where Shiva released the holy waters of Ganga from his matted hair, resulting in the formation of the Ganges River.

The temple was rebuilt by Adi Shankaracharya. According to the hagiographies based on Madhava's Sankshepa-Shankara-Vijaya, the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya died near the Kedarnath mountains; although other hagiographies, based on Anandagiri's Prachina-Shankara-Vijaya, state that he died at Kanchipuram.