Priests reopen doors of shrine amid recitation of Vedic mantras
PrashantNews
Thousands of pilgrims on Sunday made serpentine long queues to offer prayers at Badrinath shrine in Uttarakhand after its portals were reopened.
Amid the chants of “Jai Badri Vishal”, the priests opened at 6 AM the doors of the Badrinath temple which remained closed for nearly six months during the winter period. The priests later performed puja reciting Vedic mantra and performing various Hindu rituals as military bands played religious tunes and tribal women danced outside the temple.
The people, who were waiting for hours in queues, loudly expressed cheers and raised religious slogans when the doors of the temple were being reopened.
Riding on flowers-decked palanquins, the idols of Gods arrived earlier in Badrinath shrine area from Joshimath in Chamoli district where the puja is performed during the winter period after the closure of the temple.
The pilgrimage to Chardham, comprising Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri shrines, began on Friday on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya after the portals of three shrines, except Badrinath, were reopened.
Flanked by snow-capped Neelkanth and other mountains, Badrinath shrine is located at a height of 10170 feet in the Garhwal Himalayas in Chamoli district.