Home Uttarakhand Portals of Gangotri closed, Kedarnath’s to shut today

Portals of Gangotri closed, Kedarnath’s to shut today

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By Our Staff Reporter
Gangotri, 15 Nov: The portals of the famous Gangotri Shrine (District Uttarkashi) were closed for the winter at 12.15 p.m., today, after traditional prayers, offerings and other rituals. A large number of pilgrims were present on this occasion. Gangotri is one of the four major Char Dham shrines and is dedicated to River Ganga.
It may be recalled that the portals of the Kedarnath Dham are due to be closed tomorrow on the occasion of Bhaiyya Dooj. On the other hand, the portals of the famous Badrinath Dham are due to close for winter on 19 November.
On the festive occasion of Annakoot and Govardhan Puja, today, prayers and other rituals were held at the Gangotri temple before the portals were shut for the winter season. This year, the Yatra had been affected significantly due to the Corona pandemic and, in all, only 23,500 devotees could visit the revered shrine dedicated to River Ganga.
Soon after the closure of the portals of the Gangotri Temple, Goddess Ganga’s doli left for Mukhba Temple which is Her winter sojourn.
Among those present on the occasion included Gangotri temple committee president Suresh Semwal, Deepak Semwal, Rajesh Semwal, Harish Semwal, district administration and police officials. Social distancing norms were strictly observed during the closure ceremony and during the departure of Utsav Doli for Mukhba.
The media in-charge of the Devasthanam Board, Dr Harish Gaur, reported that the portals of the Kedarnath temple would close on the occasion of Bhaiyadooj, tomorrow, at 8:30 a.m. while the portals of Badrinath Dham would also close tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. The portals of Badrinath Dham would close for the winter season on 19 November at 3:35 p.m. The portals of the Dwittiya Kedar (Second Kedar) Madmaheshwar would also be closed on 19 November at 7 a.m. The portals of the Trittiya (third) Kedar, Tungnath were closed on 4 November and even before that, the portals of the fourth Kedar, Rudranath, closed for winter on 17 October.