Dehradun : The Badrinath shrine, one of the most important Hindu temples, located at a height of over 3500 metres in Uttarakhand, will close for the winter today.
As per the auspicious time declared by the head priest, the doors of the temple will be close exactly at 3-25 p m.
The temple doors opened at 4 am this morning and the prayers for the last time before the temples closes for pilgrims for the winters was performed by the ‘raval’ (head priest).
Pilgrims will be allowed till the last ritual, coating the main deity in the sanctum sanctorum with ghee, is performed and the doors will be closed for the winters.
Tomorrow the seat of the Shankaracharya of Bdri and idols of Udhav and Kuber will be taken to Pandukeshwar in a palanquin.
Thousands of pilgrims were present on the occasion, when the ‘raval’ Keshav Prasad Namboori invited Goddess Laxmi on behalf of Lord Vishnu to come from the adjoining temple to the sanctum sanctorum, and thereafter closed the doors of the Laxmi temple in the same complex.
Incidentally, the closing of the doors of the shrine is a major occasion and thousands of devotees from various parts of the country gather on the occasion, bringing with them flowers of various hues in baskets.
They litter the flower petals along the path that leads to the shrine to make the occasion as colourful as possible.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
