The portals of the fabled Kedarnath shrine was thrown open on Wednesday accompanied by the ceremonial rituals a little before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid obeisance to the deity and offered prayers at the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlings, believed to have been built by the Pandavas and much later revived by Adi Shankaracharya.
Earlier, PM Modi was welcomed by the Governor Dr KK Paul and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat after the special IAF aircraft with the PM on board landed at Jollygrant airport at around 8 am. The PM's Kedarnath shrine trip was advanced to the early morning against the backdrop of the Met department having forecast rain later in the day. PM accompanied by the Governor and the CM flew to Kedarnath by MI-17 helicopter. Among others who welcomed him at Kedarpuri were Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju, State Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarawal, Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, Kedarnath MlA Manoj Rawat and State BJP president Ajay Bhatt. As Modi alighted from the chopper he waved to the pilgrims who were found waiting to see the opening of the portals of the celebrated shrine and also to have a glance of the PM. As Modi reached the Kedarnath premises he was given a booklet that contains detailed information about the shrine.
As per the custom going on for ages, lord Shiva leaves Kedarnath and is installed in the temple at Ukhimath in November as the winter sets in. Preceding the opening of the portals, the palanquin with the idol of the lord in it left Ukhimath and reached His summer abode at Kedarnath on Wednesday morning a little before the dignitaries arrived.
As per the time fixed by the priests, the shrine was thrown open to the pilgrims at 8.53 am amidst the ceremonial tune played by the Army band.
PM Modi arrived at around 9 am and was the first to perform Rudrabhishek at the sanctum sanctorum -offering of water and flower- to lord Shiva. The ritual continued for around half an hour. Thereafter, he was felicitated with a replica of Kedarnath constructed by Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC ) by its chief executive officer BD Singh.
After the rituals at the shrine were over the state tourism minister Satpal Maharaj offered the PM a Garhwali cap and shawl which PM accepted with folded hands. However, a little later, he warmly patted the CM who was also present on the occasion on his back. The media persons present there were left curious as to the messages lying in the different gestures that the PM showed to two stalwarts of the state. "It is indeed intriguing as to why the PM refused to let Maharaj place the cap and the shawl on his person and a few moments later, he showed warmth for the CM," said a media person, found trying hard to read the message, if any, in the varying gestures.
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