The portals of the Kedarnath shrine were ritually reopened for the devotees during the morning on Sunday. As slated, the portals were opened for the public at the auspicious time of 6:15 AM amidst Vedic chanting. It is being stated that since the 2013 disaster, this is the first time when more than 7,000 devotees were present at Kedarnath at the time of its portals being reopened for the public.  Many more devotees offered their prayers at Kedarnath later throughout the day. Among others, the Uttarakhand governor Krishan Kant Paul also paid his obeisance to lord Kedarnath on the occasion. On Monday, the portals of Badrinath shrine are slated to be reopened for the devotees. This will mark the full-fledged start of the Char Dham Yatra.

Earlier, on Saturday the ceremonial palanquin of the lord was carried by devotees from Gaurikund. The palanquin carrying the five-faced idol of the lord arrived in Kedarnath on Saturday evening. On Sunday early morning, amidst the tunes played by the army band and chants of devotees the five-faced idol was carried to the shrine. At the shrine, the chief priest Bhimashankar ling and others conducted ritual worship after which the sanctum sanctorum was cleaned before the idol was installed and the portals were reopened for the public.

The Uttarakhand governor Krishan Kant Paul also participated in the Pooja-Archana ceremony on the occasion.           Amid the large number of devotees, the Governor had Darshan of lord Kedarnath and prayed for the prosperity and well-being of the state and its people.  The governor sought information from local officials regarding the arrangements made for the pilgrims. He said that the pilgrims and tourists arriving in Uttarakhand from various parts of the country and the world  should be treated in a manner that would help establish an image of Uttarakhand as a hospitable state on a global level, besides being a culturally  and spiritually rich state. Among thousands of devotees, the Vidhan Sabha speaker Premchand Agrawal, Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee chairman Ganesh Godiyal and others were also present on the occasion. It should be mentioned here that earlier Prime Muinister Narendra Modi was also slated to be present on the occasion in Kedarnath though his programme was deferred at the last moment.