Portals of Kedarnath Dham opened for devotees
Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand: The doors of Kedarnath Dham opened to pilgrims on Tuesday morning, amid the chanting of shlokas (hymns) and loud drumbeats.
Kedarnath Temple Chief Priest Jagadguru Rawal Bhima Shankar Ling Shivacharya opened the portals.
The Kedarnath temple is one of the most revered temples in the country dedicated to Lord Shiva and people from across the country visit the temple during the six months when the temple is open.
On Tuesday, thousands of devotees gathered at the temple to witness the grand opening and waited to enter the shrine.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also paid a visit to the holy Kedarnath Dham and offered prayers as the temple doors opened for devotees.
To mark the occasion, several devotees played loud drumbeats and danced on the streets as a part of the celebration and chanted "Jai bholenath" and "Har-Har Mahadev" slogans.
Ahead of the opening of one of the country's holiest pilgrimage sites, the abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers.
The first batch of pilgrims left Haridwar for the Char Dham Yatra on Saturday and the Yatra began from Yamunotri Dham on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya.
According to the Uttarakhand government, till now, more than 17 lakh registrations have been done for Char Dham Yatra.
They advised the pilgrims to start their journey after considering the weather forecast.
The yatra resumed after the weather condition improved in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag on Tuesday morning, informed the police.
Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told ANI, "As weather conditions have improved, pilgrims are allowed to visit the Kedarnath Dham", DGP Ashok Kumar said.
Security has been strengthened at various places in view of the same, informed the police.
