Married women extracted sesame seeds oil for the ritual worship of lord Badrinath on Tuesday. The oil was extracted traditionally in the palace of the erstwhile royal family of Tehri at Narendranagar in the presence of family member and Tehri MP Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah.
In the evening, the Gadu Ghada containing the oil was taken on its way towards Badrinath after ceremonial prayers. According to tradition, the idol of lord Badrinath will be anointed with this oil for the six months when the shrine remains open to the public.
Due to the situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil extraction ceremony was held in a simple manner. At 9 AM, the Raj Purohit Krishna Prasad Uniyal and Sampurnanand Joshi first conducted the ritual worship of lord Ganesh and lord Badrinath. After this, the traditional extraction of sesame seed oil was started by Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah. After consecration of the items used in the process, married women dressed in yellow saris first roasted the sesame seeds and then ground them with a pestle to extract the oil. Social distancing was maintained during the rituals.
It is pertinent to mention here that due to conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the date for reopening of Badrinath shrine for the summer was postponed from April 30 to May 15. Due to this, the Gadu Ghada ceremony which was to be held earlier on April 18 was held on May 5.