Badrinath portals closed for winter

Gopeshwar, November 20 

Amid special prayers and chanting of Vedic hymns, the annual Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand came to an end on Tuesday with the ceremonial closure of gates of the Badrinath temple.

  The portals of the shrine were closed at 3.21 pm  after special ‘pujas’ were performed by chief priest Ishwari Prasad Namboodiri to the presiding deity Lord Vishnu in the presence of a host of temple committee officials, Badri-Kedar Mandir Samiti CEO BD Singh said.

Soon after the temple gates were closed, an idol of Lord Vishnu, kept in a flower-laden palanquin, was taken to Narsingh Mandir, Joshimath, where the deity will be worshipped during the winter.

Over 5,000 devotees thronged the temple on the last day of the yatra season, including yoga guru Ramdev and state BJP president Ajay Bhatt, as its sacred portals were closed for the winter when the temple remains snow-bound, he said.

Over 10 lakh pilgrims visited the Himalayan temple this year with 5,237 paying obeisance on the last day.  The other three Himalayan shrines,  Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath, have been closed.  PTI