Sacred portals of Kedarnath, Yamunotri closed for winter

The sacred portals of the Kedarnath and Yamunotri located in the high Garhwal Himalayan region of Uttarakhand were closed for winter on ThursdaySources in the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee said the doors of the temple were closed for the devotees at 830 am after offering prayers amid chanting of vedic hymnsMore than 3000 devotees along with temple committee president Ajendra Ajay teerth purohit and officials of the Rudraprayag district administration were present on the occasion while the Indian Armys 11th Maratha Regiment played devotional tunesOver 43 lakh pilgrims reached Chardham this year In Kedarnath alone 1561882 devotees paid obeisance at the templeThe media incharge of the temple committee Dr Harish Gaur said the Kedarnath temple opened its portals at 3 am and the process of closing the doors for the winter started at 4 amAlso read Take care of my daughter pilot of chopper told his wifeThe sanctum sanctorum and the main gate of the temple were closed after temple priest T Gangadhar Linga covered the jyotirlinga with Baghambar Bhringraj flower Bhasma local dry flowers and leaves and the panchmukhi doli of Lord Shankar left for the Omkareshwar temple of UkhimathThe doors of Yamunotri dham located in Uttarkashi district were also closed for the winter on ThursdaySuresh Uniyal secretary of Yamunotri Temple Committee said the doors of Yamunotri dham was closed at 1209 pm after performing ritualsAccording to Uniyal more than 2000 devotees were present on the occasion and they also performed Tandi dance folk dance of Uttarakhand on the drum beatThe doli of goddess Yamuna was taken from the dham and set up in Kharsali village where devotees will be able to pay obeisance to the goddess for the next six monthsUttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami thanked the pilgrims and said a record number of pilgrims reached Chardham Yatra this timeThe new Kedarpuri has come into existence under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi where facilities are being provided to the pilgrims he saidDhami said recently the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the GaurikundKedarnath Ropeway and its construction will make Kedarnath Yatra easierThe doors of Gangotri dham one of the famous temples of the Garhwal Himalayas known as Chardham were closed on Wednesday for the winter season on the occasion of Annakoot festivalThe doors of Yamunotri will also be closed on Thursday while the doors of Badrinath will be closed on November 19The four Himalayan temples of Kedarnath Badrinath Gangotri and Yamunotri located in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand are closed for six months every year for the winters when they remain snowboundLakhs of devotees visit every year for the Chardham Yatra which is considered to be the economic backbone of the Garhwal regionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever