Only 16 people including the chief priest will remain present at the opening ceremony of the sacred portals of Kedarnath Temple on April 29. Darshan for the devotees will not be allowed at the temple as of now, said Mangesh Ghildiyal, the District Magistrate of Rudraprayag.
Only 16 people, including the Chief Priest of Kedarnath temple (in file pic), to be present when the portals of the temple open on 29th April. ‘Darshan’ for the devotees will not be allowed at the temple as of now: Mangesh Ghildiyal, District Magistrate, Rudraprayag #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/d24aU4oDv1
— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2020
The board of the temple will open as per the original mahurat (auspicious time) at 6.10 am on April 29, but owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic, only the head priest, Bhimashankar Linga, along with 15 others would be present then at the sacred portal while its gates would remain shut for the devotees. The decision was taken yesterday (April 21) in a meeting with temple committee officials attended by Kedarnath Rawal (head priest) Bhimashankar Linga, Senior Tirth Purohit, Vedpathis and Acharya and other important members of Panchagai Samiti at the Panchkedar Gaddisthal Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath.
Baba Kedar’s convoy will leave the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath, the winter home of Lord Kedar, on April 26. The reopening ceremony will be conducted at Kedarnath Temple on April 29 at 6:10 AM.
On the other hand, the reopening date for Badrinath Temple will be May 15, as announced on Monday by the state government authorities, as the Rawal (head priest) of the shrine is still in Kerala due to the ongoing lockdown. As soon as he reaches the state once the lockdown is lifted, he will have to stay under quarantine for two weeks. Hence, the reopening date has been postponed.
