The portals of Badrinath shrine will be reopened to the public on May 5 in preparation for which the til patra ceremony of the new Rawal (chief priest) Ishwari Prasad Namboodari was held at the Narsinh temple here on Friday.
Only the Rawal is allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in Badrinath where he leads the ritual worship of lord Vishnu. It will be recalled that Ishwari Prasad was earlier the Nayab Rawal of Badrinath and has taken over the post of the chief priest after the previous Rawal Keshav Prasad Namboodari was first suspended and then removed from the post following his arrest on charges of molesting a woman in Delhi in February this year. With only a couple of days left for the reopening of Badrinath shrine, the temple committee organised the til patra ceremony for installing the new Rawal on Friday. On Saturday the seat of the Shankaracharya will depart from the Narsinh temple at Joshimath for Badrinath along with the Rawal. The procession will halt overnight at Pandukeshwar, the winter residence of lord Badrinath.
The idol of the presiding deity along with the idols of Uddhav and Kuber will then reach Badrinath on Sunday after which the portals of the shrine will be ritually opened to the public on Monday.