The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Uttarakhand): The Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri temples in Uttarakhand are set to reopen for devotees on Friday, following their closure during the winter season. These revered temples, located in the Garhwal Himalayas, close each winter due to heavy snowfall and reopen with the arrival of summer.
The Kedarnath and Yamunotri temples will open at 7 AM, while the Gangotri temple will open at 12:20 PM, according to temple committee officials. Badrinath, another significant temple in Uttarakhand’s ‘chardham yatra’, is scheduled to open at 6 AM on May 12.
Harish Gaur, media in-charge of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), stated that Kedarnath is being adorned with 20 quintals of flowers. The five-faced idol of Baba Kedar, which is transported from its winter residence at Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath to Kedarnath, has already departed from Gaurikund, the final stop before Kedarnath. The idol will be reinstalled in the temple amid elaborate rituals and worship before the portals are opened for devotees.
BKTC volunteers carry the idol barefoot from Ukhimath to Kedarnath each year, accompanied by devotees from across India and abroad.
In preparation for the pilgrimage season, 135 vehicles carrying 4,050 chardham pilgrims were flagged off from Rishikesh on Thursday. Speaking at the flag-off event, Cabinet Minister Premchand Aggarwal expressed optimism that a record number of pilgrims would visit the chardham temples this year.
This reopening marks the beginning of the annual pilgrimage season, drawing thousands of devotees to these sacred Himalayan temples.
