The portals of Badrinath shrine were reopened to the public for the summer at 4 am on Thursday. As Vedic chanting resounded, 35,000 pilgrims thronged the shrine for a view of the lord and Akhand Jyoti.
Earlier, head priest of Badrinath (Rawal) Keshav Prasad Namboodari led the ceremonies, which saw arrival of lord Badrinath’s childhood friend Uddhav and Kuber in ceremonial palanquins from the Yog Dhyani temple at Pandukeshwar. Portals of the shrine were opened after this.
Then, the idol of goddess lakshmi, kept with the idol of Badrinath during closure of the shrine in winter, was brought out and installed in the lakshmi temple. The Rawal then placed idols of Uddhav and Kuber besides the idol of the presiding deity. For the next six months, they will be worshipped as the Badrish panchayat.
The Rawal ceremoniously bathed the idol of Badrinath after removing the clothing, woollen blanket and floral ornamentation from it after six months and decorated the idol afresh.
The old floral ornamentation and blanket were distributed as ‘prasad’ among the devotees. The whole temple building was decked with marigold garlands.
At 9 am, State Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat and her husband Satpal Maharaj, Garhwal MP, reached Badrinath by helicopter. The Government machinery then shifted focus to the politicians, instead of the lord and his devotees.
Addressing the media later, temple committee dharmadhikari BC Uniyal said the State of the ghee on the woollen blanket draped on the idol during the winter portends happiness for the nation.