The doors of Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand were opened for pilgrims with rituals and vedic chanting on Friday.
As the doors of the Kedarnath Temple opened on Friday morning, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami along with his wife Geeta Dhami offered prayers.
The doors of the temple opened following years old traditional ritual of Vedic chanting. The temple has been decked with 15 quintals of flowers. The portals of the temple closed for winter for six months on November 6 last year.
Located on the bank of the Mandakini river, Kedarnath Temple is the of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as 'Char Dham' which also include Yamunotri, Gangotri and Badrinath. Built in the eighth century AD by Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya, Kedarnath Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The Char Dham yatra began on May 3 with the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri temples in Uttarkashi district thrown open to devotees on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya.
A record number of pilgrims are likley to visit Char Dham this year as it is for the first time since 2019 that the yatra has begun without the Covid-induced restrictions in force.
However, a daily limit has been imposed on the number of pilgrims visiting the temples so that they do not face any inconvenience due to limited accommodation available for them at the Himalayan shrines.
The opening of Gangotri and Yamunotri marks the commencement of the Char Dham yatra. Kedarnath opens on May 6 and Badrinath on May 8.
The daily limit on the number of pilgrims for Gangotri is 7000, 4000 for Yamunotri, 12,000 for Kedarnath and 15,000 for Badrinath.
(With inputs from Agencies)
