The portals of Badrinath shrine were reopened to the public on Sunday morning in the presence of thousands of devotees. With the opening of this shrine, all the Char Dham shrines are now open to the public.
Earlier, the idol of goddess lakshmi was installed back in the lakshmi temple and Kuber and Uddhav were placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Badrinath. After this, amidst light rain and Vedic chanting, the portals of Badrinath were reopened to the public at 5.15 am on Sunday. In spite of the cold, thousands of devotees had been queuing up for darshan.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat had also reached Badrinath on Saturday evening and was present along with other leaders during the reopening of the shrine. After the temple was opened, the Chief Minister, Tourism Minister Dinesh Dhanai and Vidhan Sabha Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal accompanied local women in a folk dance to the tune of traditional devotional songs.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that there is much enthusiasm among the pilgrims especially as faith makes the devotees overcome inconvenience. He assured that proper facilitation of the Yatra will be ensured.
On improvement in the weather, the problems being faced in some locations will be resolved, he said. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has been deployed to assist the pilgrims in places were problems are being faced.