Chardham Yatra: Portals Of Kedarnath Dham Open For Devotees From Today

Devotees who have already reached Kedarnath will be able to witness the ceremonial opening of the temple doors. Chairman of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee said the doors of Kedarnath Dham will be opened for devotees at 6.20 am on Tuesday.

Dehradun: The portals of Kedarnath Dham dedicated to Lord Shiva in the Garhwal Himalayas have been opened for devotees on Tuesday. The portals of Kedarnath Dham were opened by chief temple priest Jagadguru Rawal Bhima Shankar Ling Shivacharya. However, thousands of pilgrims on way to the holy shrine have been stopped to proceed further due to bad weather conditions in the area, said officials.

Doors of Kedarnath Dham open to pilgrims

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Devotees were seen playing drums after the portals of Kedarnath Dham were opened for the pilgrims.

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Hundreds of pilgrims have been asked to wait in Rishikesh, Gaurikund, Guptkashi and Sonprayag till an improvement in the weather, the officials said. Tehri SSP Navneet Singh Bhullar said that in view of the forecast of snowfall and bad weather in Kedarnath, the pilgrims have been stopped at Bhadrakali and Vyasi and asked to stay at Rishikesh for the time being.

Devotees who have already reached Kedarnath will be able to witness the ceremonial opening of the temple doors, the officials said. Chairman of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Ajendra Ajay earlier said that the doors of Kedarnath Dham will be opened for devotees at 6.20 AM on Tuesday.

The temple has been decorated with 35 quintals of flowers and Baba Kedar's Panchmukhi Chal Vigraha Doli also reached the Dham on Monday, he said. The Uttarakhand government on Sunday closed fresh registration of pilgrims for Kedarnath till April 30 after the Meteorological office predicted snowfall and rain in the area till April 29.

In view of the intermittent snowfall and rain in Kedarnath, the temple committee chairman appealed to the devotees to follow the guidelines issued by the state government before starting the journey and to make arrangements for their stay there in advance.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also reached Guptkashi in the evening to enquire about the arrangements for pilgrims. All arrangements have been made for the pilgrims coming for the Char Dham Yatra in the state, he said, adding by the grace of God, this year more devotees would come for the Yatra than last year.