Portals of Badrinath Dham shrine opened amid rituals
MUSSOORIE: Over 10,000 pilgrims witnessed the opening of the Badrinath Dham shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu on Sunday morning amid the chanting of Vedic hymns in Chamoli district, people familiar with the matter said.
Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) president Ajendra Ajay said: “Rawal (chief priest) Ishwar Prasad Namboodiri, Dharmadhikari Radhakrishna Thapliyal and Vedpathi Ravindra Bhatt performed pooja at the portals of the shrine, which was decked up with over 20 quintals of flowers, early in morning. The portals were opened at 6am.
Harish Gaur, media cell in charge BKTC, said: “During the opening of the portals, students and teachers of Vedvedang Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, Joshimath performed Swasti recital. Badrinath Dham temple was beautifully decorated with flowers by Badrinath Pushp Seva Samiti, Rishikesh.”
The town has been experiencing intermittent rainfall since Saturday night but on Sunday it turned into light drizzle and the weather cleared after which the devotees were also able to have darshan of the snow-clad Neelkanth Peak, he said.
The self-help women groups from the tribal village of Mana, adjacent to Badrinath shrine, prayed at the temple and welcomed the devotees by their Chaunfula and Chanchdi dance performance. The women’s marching band contingent from Pradeshik Raksha Dal played devotional tunes. The Indo Tibetan border police, home guards and volunteers from the BKTC helped in manAdiguru aging the rush of devotees, BKTC official said.
Ajendra said: “The BKTC is committed to the providing a hassle free darshan to the pilgrims of Lord Badri Vishal. We are expecting a record turnout to all major shrines during the yatra season.”
Sushmita Sen (42), a pilgrim from Kolkata, said: “For me, watching the journey of Utsav Doli of Udhav ji right up to Badrinath shrine was a unique experience that I will never forget in my life.”
Earlier on Saturday evening, the seat of Udhav Ji, Shri Kuber Ji and Adi Guru Shankaracharya reached Badrinath shrine from Badri temple at Pandukeshwar. The Rawal of the shrine reached with the Gadu Kalash containing the oil made of sesame seeds with which the lamps are lit at Badrinath Dham shrine
With the opening of portals of Badrinath Dham, the portals of all the nearby temples Shri Ganesh Temple, Shri Ghantakaran Temple, Garud Temple, Shri Lakshmi Mata Temple, Shri Adi Kedareshwar Temple, Adi Guru Shankaracharya Temple Matamurti Temple and Bhavishya Badri Temple Suvai Tapovan have also been opened for the devotees, said BKTC officials.
Hemlata Devi (35), a devotee from Bhopal, said, ‘ After the darshan of Lord Badri Vishal, we will be going to Mana village and the Saraswati Falls along with the Vyas Cave where it is said that Mahabharata was written by seer Ved Vyas.”
Meanwhile, the IMD Dehradun Centre said that isolated places on Char Dham pilgrimage route experienced light to moderate rainfall on Sunday and it is likely that thunderstorms accompanied with lightning will likely take place in isolated places on Monday.
Badarinath, located in Chamoli district along the banks of the Alaknanda river at a height of 3,133 metres, is one of the holiest shrines for Hindus, especially Vaishnavites. It is also part of Panch Badri temples including Yog Dhyan Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Adi Badri and Vriddha Badri. The temple is around 50 feet tall with a small cupola on top, covered with a gold gilt roof.
The temple complex has 15 idols, including the image of Lord Badarinath, sculpted in black stone.
According to local priests, Shankaracharya discovered a black stone image of Lord Badarinarayan made of Saligram stone in the Alaknanda River.
He originally enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot springs. In the sixteenth century, the King of Garhwal moved the idol to the present location of the temple.
Over the years, large number of pilgrims have been coming to Badrinath Dham, except during Covid pandemic. According to state government data, 654,355 pilgrims visited Badrinath Dham in 2016, 920,466 pilgrims in 2017, 1,048,051 pilgrims in 2018, 1,244,993 pilgrims in 2019, 155,055 pilgrims in 2020, 197,997 pilgrims in 2021 (Covid period), 1,763,549 pilgrims in 2022 and 1,839,591 pilgrims in 2023.