PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/New Tehri
The Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and his wife Preeti Adani offered prayers at Kedarnath on their 40th wedding anniversary on Friday. Later, the industrialist also surveyed the site of the Kedarnath ropeway project by air.
Adani and his wife reached Kedarnath Dham on a private helicopter in the morning. Tight security arrangements were put in place for the occasion with Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) officials and the officials of the local administration also present during the visit. The Adanis offered special prayers to the lord along with Jalabhishek.
After offering prayers to the lord, Adani conducted an aerial survey of the proposed Sonprayag-Kedarnath ropeway project which is to be executed by the Adani Group. The BKTC chairman Hemant Dwivedi said that on the directions of the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Kedarnath ropeway project will play a major role in making the pilgrimage to Kedarnath more convenient and safe. It will also boost local business, employment and strengthen the local economy, he claimed. The BKTC chief executive officer Sohan Singh Rangan, priest T Gangadhar Ling and others were also present on the occasion.
Teerth Purohits protest ‘VIP’ Darshan system
DEHRADUN: Teerth Purohits in Kedarnath protested against the ‘VIP’ Darshan system which had been discontinued some years ago by the authorities.
Brijesh Sati of the Char Dham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat said that there is discontent regarding the ‘VIP’ culture in Badrinath and Kedarnath. “It has been seen that the administration and security personnel make arrangements during visits of some VVIPs which hurt the sentiments of devotees who come from distant places to offer prayers in the Dham. A protest had been held in 2024 against such practices after which the authorities had discontinued the system of facilitating special Darshan for those who pay extra. Barring exceptional circumstances, we request the authorities to discontinue this VIP culture,” Sati said.
Meanwhile, the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee claimed that during industrialist Gautam Adani’s visit to Kedarnath on Friday, the officials had made special arrangements to maintain the facility for pilgrims.
