The doors to Kedarnath open; More than 1100 registrations have already been made

The door to Kedarnath opened yesterday after doors to Gangotri and Yamunotri opening last week. All the preparations for the shrine opening ceremonies were well executed and in time. The doors to Kedarnath were opened to devotees at the auspicious tithi of 8.50 A.M after auspicious puja and chant recitals were performed. The Congress leader and prominent public figure Rahul Gandhi also participated in the Puja ceremony and attracted a lot of public attention at the event. The C.M of the state Harish Rawat and the Governor Dr K.K Pal also participated in the Puja ceremony and then visited Kedarnath Baba shrine.

About 1100 people had registered for the biometric registration for the Char Dham Yatra and this includes a considerable number of locals. Badrinath Dham doors will open on 26th April. The preparations for the same will be completed soon. The fortification of the Kanchan Jangha Highway is still underway. The footfall to Yamunotri and Gangotri was 600 on the 3rd day. The weather department has predicted that there will only be mild rains and light snowfall on the chardham route this year.

Kedarnath Dham witnessed the arrival of the procession of Baba Kedarnath idol from gaurikund to Kedarnath on Thursday via a glorious procession. In the Gaurikund temple there were arrangements made for the night stay and the subsequent Puja in the morning. At 8.00 A.M in the morning, the procession of the idol left Gaurikund and then reached Kedarnath in the late evening. Next morning i.e. On Friday in the presence of the Zila Parishad, Zonal officers and Mandir officials and regulating Committee the Southern Gates t the Kedarnath temple were opened.

Mr. Harish Rawat and the Karmachari of Temple Committee entered the Garba Griha of the Temple and broke the seal amidst the ceremonies. The Main door to Kedarnath was also opened during this time. It was only after this that the common public was permitted the chance to pay homage and enjoy Darshan of Kedarnath. On Friday the daily ceremonies for Puja were not performed. On 25th April after the door opening ceremony of Bahairanath, the ceremony of daily puja at Kedarnath will start.

On the other hand on 26th April the Bhu Baikuntha Dham Badrinath Temple Door ceremony will also be initiated. In the meantime a group of priests and devotees have departed from the holy hamlet of Dimmar with the sacred vessel of oil and they reached Joshimath on Thursday.

After the door opening ceremony of Badrinath, there were many ceremonies performed by Rahul Ishwar Prasad Nambudari who then performed the Ganga worship at Devprayag before visiting the Raghunathji shrine. The head of Dimri Sacred Society; Mr Rakesh Dimri stated that after some rest at Joshimath the group will reach via Padukeshwar and reach Badrinath Temple by 26th April for the door opening ceremony.

There was a lot of commotion in Gangotri and Yamunotri Dhams and the weather department has predicted that there will be drizzling rain in parts of Uttarkashi, Bageshwar, Rudraprayag, Pithourgarh etc and mild snowfall will also happen in some high altitude parts. According to the weather predictions, the places with an altitude of more 4000 meters above sea level will only see moderate snowfall. There is no danger predicted for pilgrim groups proceeding to Chardham, Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag.

Mr. Rahul Gandhi the Congress Leader arrived on Devbhoomi on Thursday to spread the message of safe journey. He also plans to visit the door of Baba Kedarnath. Mr Rahul Gandhi travelled to Doon from Delhi and then to Rudraprayag and Gaurikund through special flight service. After this he trekked for 5 hours like an ordinary pilgrim on the 11 km tract between Kedarnath and Limchauli with a lot of enthusiasm.

On Friday morning he took the route back from Limchaoli to Kedarnath via the 5 km route. Accompanying Mr. Gandhi were Harish Rawat, Pradhan Adhyaksh Congress Mr Kishor Upadhyay, Deputy Speaker Dr Anasuya Prasad Mukherjee, cabinet Minister Mr. Harak Singh Rawat and Dinsesh Dhanai. Before flying off to Gaurikund Mr Rahul Gandhi has stopped over at the rest house at Jolly Grant Airport and engaged in discussions regarding Char Dham Yatra with Mr. Harish rawat. During this discussion, Mr. Gandhi praised the efforts of the Government in reconstructing and rehabilitating the flood-affected areas of Chardham. He further said that the arrangements were satisfactory and this signaled well for the future of Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand. Mr. Gandhi expressed his deep wish of visiting Kedarnath shrine too.

Rahul Gandhi encouraged the workers who were involved in the fortification of roads to Kedarnath and also interacted and praised the local stall owners. He also interacted with the local horse and mule owners. The local people were highly enthusiastic on seeing Rahul Gandhi who also interacted a lot with other pilgrims.
News Source: www.jagran.com