The portals of Badrinath shrine will be closed to the public for the winters from November 17 at 4.35 PM. As per tradition, the date for closure of the portals of Badrinath temple was announced here on the occasion of Vijaydashami on Thursday.
The Rawal (chief priest) of Badrinath, CEO of the temple committee and others were present for the announcement of the closure date.
The Rawal and Dharmadhikari consulted the Panchang to announce the said date. It is pertinent to mention here that the ritual procedure begins four days before the doors of Badrinath shrine are closed to the public.
OnNovember 13, after Ganesh Puja and Mahabhishek, the portals of Ganesh shrine will be closed. On November 14, the portals of Adi Kedareshwar will be closed after ritual worship after which the recitation of the Vedic Richas will end on November 15. On November 16, special worship will be held in the lakshmi temple. On the day when the Badrinath shrine is to be closed, the Rawal dresses up as a woman and enshrines goddess lakshmi with lord Badrinath in the sanctum sanctorum. The Rawal then covers lord Badrinath in ghee and a coarse woolen blanket woven by a girl in Mana village. Two days after the portals of Badrinath are closed for the winters on November 17, idols of Kuber and Uddhav along with the seat of Shankaracharya reach Pandukeshwar where Kuber and Uddhav are instated in the Yogdhyan temple where Badrinath is worshipped during the winter. The seat of Shankaracharya is placed in the Narsinh temple in Joshimath. It is believed that while humans worship the lord in Badrinath during the summer and monsoon, the gods led by sage Narad conduct the worship in the shrine for six months when it remains closed to the public for the winters.