Monday, 13 MAY 2024 | PNS | BADRINATH
The portals of Badrinath temple were reopened to the public at 6 AM on Sunday with Vedic rituals. Thousands of devotees were present on the occasion which marks the full-fledged start of the Char Dham Yatra with the three other temples- Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri having been reopened to the public on May 10.
Amidst light rain in the temple township, the army band played tunes even as local women sang and danced to devotional folk songs. As per tradition, Kuber, Uddhav and the Gadu Ghada were brought into the temple complex from the southern door. The Rawal, Dharmadhikari and traditional right holders then opened the portals of the shrine ritually. The Rawal Isvari Prasad Namboodari conducted a special prayer of lord Badrinath in the Garbh Grah. Thousands of people witnessed the Akhand Jyoti- which is lit at the time of the temple’s closing in winter- and paid obeisance to the lord on the day of its reopening. The temple was decorated in about 15 quintals of flowers.
With the reopening of Badrinath, pilgrims and tourists have also started visiting other nearby sites including the Narad Kund, Sheshnetra Jheel, Neelkanth, Urvashi Mandir, Brahmakapal, Mata Murti Mandir, the neighbouring Mana village, Bheempul, Vasudhara and other locations in the region. According to official data, 18,39,591 people had visited Badrinath last year.
Tourism department officials informed that more than 25 lakh people have so far registered to visit the Char Dham shrines and Hemkund Sahib. According to official data, 8,58,979 people have registered to visit Kedarnath, 7,65,950 for Badrinath, 4,52,689 for Gangotri and 3,97,232 for Yamunotri. Further, 55,263 people have registered to visit Hemkund Sahib.
