Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], April 27 : As the doors of Badrinath Dham opened for pilgrims, this morning, the first puja was performed in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The portals of Badrinath Dham, one of Uttarakhand's Char Dham opened amid chants of Vedic shlokas (hymns).
Thousands of devotees were present to witness the inauguration. The process of opening the doors started at 4 am on Thursday. Kuber ji, Shri Uddav ji and Gadu Ghada were brought into the premises of the temple from the south gate, informed officials.
The doors of the temple were opened in the presence of the administration and thousands of devotees by Dharmadhikari, Hakhakudhari and officials of Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee including the chief priest of the temple Rawal.
Chief priest VC Ishwar Prasad Namboodiri wished everyone auspiciousness while offering special prayers to Lord Badrinath in the sanctum sanctorum.
"The first puja was done in the name of Prime Minister Modi. With this, the darshan of Badrinath has started for summers. Badrinath temple was decorated with 15 quintals of flowers on the occasion of Kapatodghatan," said Ishwar Prasad Namboodiri.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami extended his best wishes to all the devotees on the auspicious occasion of the opening of the doors.
The Chief Minister said that the state government has made all arrangements for the smooth conduct of the Chardham Yatra.
In the midst of light snowfall and rain, the melodious music of the band and the praise of Lord Badrinath accomped by the traditional music and dance of the local women mesmerized the devotees.
According to the guidelines of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, on the occasion of the opening of the doors of the Badrinath temple, the devotees were overwhelmed by the rain of flowers from the helicopter to welcome the pilgrims.
A day before the opening of the doors, a crowd of devotees had started gathering in Badrinath Dham. On the very first day, thousands of devotees earned merit by having the darshan of Akhand Jyoti and Lord Shri Badrinath at Badrinath. With the opening of the doors of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath Dham, the Chardham Yatra has started in Uttarakhand.
With the opening of the doors of the Badrinath Temple, Taptakund, Narad Kund, Shesh Netra Lake, Neelkanth Shikhar, Urvashi Temple, Brahma Kapal, Mata Murti Temple and the country's first village Mana, Bhimpul, Vasudhara Falls and other historic places around Bhu-Baikunth Dham. And the crowd of devotees and tourists has also started gathering at philosophical places.
According to officials, Lakhs of devotees have visited Badrinath in the past years.
"If we look at the previous figures, 654355 in the year 2016, 920466 in the year 2017 and 1048051 in the year 2018, 1244993 in the year 2019 and 155055 in the year 2020 reached Badrinath. In the year 2021, only 197997 devotees reached Badrinath due to the Corona crisis. Whereas in the last year 2022, 1763549 devotees reached Badrinath Dham after controlling the Corona epidemic. This time, a large number of devotees are reaching Badrinath with record registration in the beginning itself," said officials.
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