Decorated in flowers, portals of Badrinath temple reopens today; devotees prohibited till lockdown

The sacred portals of Badrinath were opened early on Friday with only a select group of priests and Devasthanam Board officials attending the low-key ceremony. The gates of the Himalayan temple were opened at 4.30 am by its chief priest Rawal Ishwari Prasad Nambudiri in the presence of a limited number of shrine board officials.

Chamoli (Uttrakhand): With beautifully decorated in flowers, portals of the Badrinath temple reopened at 4:30 am, with 28 people including the Chief Priest on Friday.

Before opening the portals of the Badrinath temple, religious ceremonies were also held on Wednesday at the Narsingh temple in Joshimath.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his prayer request to the priest of Badrinath Temple. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi sends me prayer request, this is the first prayer request we receive at Badrinath Temple today after reopening," said the priest of Badrinath Temple, Bhuwan Chandra Uniyal.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj congratulated devotees on the opening of the temple and expressed hope that the coronavirus pandemic will be defeated and the chardham yatra will begin as soon as possible.

Earlier, in an statement, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Joshimath, Anil Chanyal said, "Devotees will not be allowed entry into the temple. The decision has been taken in view of the guidelines issued by the Centre amid Covid-19 pandemic."

On April 29, the portals of Kedarnath temple were thrown open after a six-month-long winter break. There also pilgrims were prohibited from visiting the shrine because of coronavirus lockdown.

Last week, Apart from that, May 5 had been selected to extract sesame oil for the 'Gaadu Ghada' tradition. The portals of Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines are reopened around this time of the year after a six-month-long winter break and clearing of snow along the track leading to shrine.

This is how the door opening ceremony was performed:

• The chief priest Raval accompanied by the reciters of Veda entered the temple from the rear door at 4 in the morning.
• Prayers were offered to the door at 4.15 am.
• The main door of Lord Badrinath was opened exactly at 4.30 am.
• After the door was opened, the holy flame became visible which remains alight throughout six months.
• After this Bhagwan Uddhav and Kuber entered the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Badrinath to be part of His court.
• The chief priest and Raval took out Goddess Laxmi from the sanctum sanctorum along with Lord Badrinath and installed them in the main temple.
• The ghee quilt that covers the idol of God during the winters was removed.
• Prayers were offered to Lord Ganesha and its idol was installed in its original place.
• There will be special prayers offered to Lord Badrinath at 9 am.
• There will be day-long prayers and offerings to God.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)