The doors of Kedarnath Dham opened.
The doors of Kedarnath Dham opened.
The portals of the holy Kedarnath Dham were opened for the pilgrims on Tuesday morning. The abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers ahead of the opening of Kedarnath, one of the holiest pilgrimage sites in the country. More than 10 thousand devotees were present on this occasion.
The portals of Kedarnath Dham, located in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, opened for pilgrims in the morning with shlokas, chants and beating of drums. Thousands of devotees were seen standing in queue to have a glimpse of Lord Shiva. The temple’s chief priest Jagadguru Rawal Bheem Shankar Linga Shivacharya opened the portals with traditional rituals amidst a heavy presence of devotees. Yesterday Baba Kedar’s Panchmukhi Chal Vigraha Doli had also reached Dham. Uttarakhand CM Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also reached Baba Kedar’s Dham.
After the doors of Kedarnath Dham were opened for the devotees, the devotees were seen dancing to the tune of Dhol Nagade. Thousands of devotees managed to reach the temple amidst bad weather, forcing the authorities to stop the pilgrims on their way to the temple. They have been asked to wait at Rishikesh, Gaurikund, Guptkashi and Sonprayag till the weather improves. Kedarnath has been receiving heavy snowfall and the Uttarakhand government had stopped accepting registration applications from pilgrims in view of the inclement weather.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert regarding heavy snowfall on the Kedarnath Dham route. According to an official statement, the weather is expected to remain bad in Kedarghati this week. Bad weather is expected in Kedarghati for the next one week. On the alert of the Meteorological Department, the state government has banned the registration of Kedarnath pilgrimage. Heavy snowfall in Kedarnath has created difficulties for the administration. Registration of pilgrims for Kedarnath Yatra has been stopped in view of snowfall of three to four feet on the Kedarnath footpath and Dham and warnings of the Meteorological Department. Meanwhile, the first batch of pilgrims left Haridwar for Char Dham Yatra on Saturday.
Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimage sites in India. The four holy places Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are located high in the Himalayas. The yatra started from Yamunotri Dham on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. Kedarnath Dham, one of the holiest pilgrimage sites in the country, is the eleventh of the twelve Jyotirlingas of India. This temple is situated on the banks of river Mandakini at an altitude of 3584 meters above sea level. Kedarnath Temple is also a part of Char Dham and Panch Kedar in Uttarakhand.
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