Garhwal Post Bureau
Rudraprayag, 8 Jun: Chief of Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, visited the sacred Kedarnath Temple today along with his family. Upon his arrival at Kedarnath shrine, he was given a warm and traditional welcome by the Kedarnath Teerth Purohit Samaj and the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee.
During his visit, General Dwivedi performed special prayers and rituals at the sanctum of Baba Kedar. The worship rituals lasted for nearly half an hour, during which the Army Chief expressed deep reverence and spiritual engagement. He was seen taking in the serene and majestic surroundings of the temple complex and described the abode of Lord Shiva as divine and wonderful, remarking that the visit had brought immense peace to his mind.
The Army Chief’s pilgrimage comes amid a growing number of VIP visits to Kedarnath Dham this season. Earlier, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi visited the shrine on 6 June, while Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta reached Kedarnath for darshan on 2 June. Among the other VVIPs who have visited the Kedarnath this year so far also include Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, Dr Arvind Panagariya, and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. The temple portals were opened for the summer pilgrimage season on 2 May this year. Since then, a total of 8,65,614 pilgrims have had darshan of Baba Kedar, with 23,532 devotees offering prayers yesterday alone. The heavy footfall has prompted the Uttarakhand government to implement several measures to facilitate pilgrim movement. These include enhanced transport arrangements for women and the elderly, improved access through horse and mule services, and the trial run of designated vehicles on the route to Kedarnath.
