By Our Staff Reporter
Rudraprayag, 4 Nov: Portals of the third Kedar, Tungnath Temple, among the Panch Kedars, were closed for the winter season, here, today. More than five hundred devotees witnessed this holy moment. During this time, the entire area echoed to the chants of Har Har Mahadev. After the portals were closed, the palanquin of Lord Tungnath left for the winter abode. The doli of Lord Tungnath will be seated at its winter seat, Markateshwar Temple in Makkumath on 7 November. It may be recalled that, yesterday, the portals of the Kedarnath Temple and Yamunotri Temple were closed yesterday, on the occasion of Bhaiyya Dooj, while the portals of Gangotri had closed before.
Dr Harish Chandra Gaur, media in-charge of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee, reminded that the Yatra to Tungnath started on 10 May this year. He shared that over 2.25 lakh devotees visited Tungnath Temple for darshan this year.
The process of closing the temple portals began early in the morning today. After the puja, devotees had darshan of Lord Tungnath. The process of closing the portals began in the sanctum sanctorum at 10 a.m. The self-manifested Shivling of Lord Tungnath was taken to the Samadhi form. The Shivling was covered with local flowers, fruits, and Akshat. After this, the priests closed the portals of Tungnath Temple in the presence of Mathapati Ramprasad Maithani, manager Balbir Negi, and doli in-charge Prakash Purohit. After the parikrama, the stake-holders left for Chopta with the idol of Lord Tungnath on a palanquin. On 7 November, Lord Tungnath will be seated at his winter seat, Marketeshwar Temple, Makkumath. Lord Tungnath will be worshipped here for the next six months.
