The portals of Kedarnath shrine were ritually reopened for the summer at 6:10 AM on Wednesday with the first ritual worship- Rudrabhishek in the shrine being offered on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the Rawal (chief priest) Bhimashankar Ling is under quarantine at Ukhimath, the priest Shivshankar Ling conducted the rituals as his representative at Kedarnath which is currently surrounded by upto six feet of snow.
The rituals for reopening of the portals began earlier at 3 AM. The priest Shivshankar Ling and other pundits worshipped at the southern entrance before entering the shrine. After various rituals including invocation of Bhairavnath, the portals of the shrine were opened at 6:10 AM.
The rituals were conducted while observing social distancing. The temple was decked in about 10 quintals of flowers on the occasion.
It should be mentioned here that while lord Kedarnath will now be worshipped here for the next six months, pilgrims are not being allowed to undertake the pilgrimage present in view of the lockdown in force to contain the spread of COVID-19.
About a dozen persons including priests and officials were among those present at Kedarnath during its ritual reopening. The State’s chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and the Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj greeted the devotees on the reopening of Kedarnath. They expressed hope that the nation and the world will soon be free of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the Char Dham Yatra will also pick up pace.
Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar has already issued elaborate directions regarding the Char Dham Yatra so that after the end of the pandemic and following directions from the top level, the pilgrimage can be brought back on track.
It should be mentioned here that with four to six feet snow in the Kedarnath area, a path was cut through the snow and the temple precinct was cleared of snow for its reopening.
This time, the army band did not perform during the reopening of Kedarnath as in past years. It will be recalled here that of the Char Dham shrines in Uttarakhand, Gangotri and Yamunotri were reopened for the summer on April 26. Badrinath shrine is now slated to be reopened on May 15.
