By OUR STAFF REPORTER
KEDARNATH/ DEHRADUN 6 Nov: The portals of the renowned eleventh Jyotirlinga Lord Kedarnath temple were closed for the winter season today along with due rituals on the occasion of Bhaiya Dooj. At the time of closure of the portals, the Samadhi Puja was performed in Scorpio zodiac Anuradha Nakshatra at around 6 AM. The priest Bagesh Ling invoked Lord Bhairava, the Digpal of Kedarnath Dham, in the presence of the religious leaders, covered the Swayambhu Shiva Linga with Vibhuti and dry flowers and seated the Swayambhu in the form of samadhi. Exactly at 8 o’clock in the morning the portals of the main gate were closed for winter. A large number of devotees witnessed the closure of the portals on this occasion. It may be recalled that Kedarnath is already Kedar Dham left for Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath amid the devotional tunes of the music instruments. Governor Lt-General (Retd) Gurmeet Singh, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, State Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, Former MP Manohar Kant Dhyani, Assembly Speaker Prem Chandra Agrawal, Chardham Vikas Parishad’s former vice-president Acharya Shiv Prasad Mamgai conveyed their best wishes on the occasion. Despite the Corona period, more than four and a half lakh pilgrims reached the Char Dham this year though covered with snow. After the closure of the portals, the Panch Mukhi Doli from the the Yatra season had been severely curtailed. At the time of closing the portals of Kedarnath Dham, Uttarakhand Chardham Devasthanam Board member Niwas Posti, senior journalist and Devasthanam Board member Ashutosh Dimri, Commissioner Garhwal and Devasthanam Board Chief Executive Officer Ravinath Raman, District Magistrate Manuj Goyal, Additional Chief Executive Officer of Devasthanam Board BD Singh, Superintendent of Police Ayush Agrawal, SDM Jitendra Verma, Jal Vidyut Nigam DG KK Bisht and Anurag Bisht, Devanand Gairola, Kedar Sabha President Vinod Shukla, and Yogendra Singh, Shiv Singh Rawat, Assistant Engineer Girish Deoli, Police Outpost in-charge Manjul Rawat, Temple Administrative Officer Yaduveer Pushpawan, Accounts Officer in-charge RC Tiwari, Dharmacharya Aonkar Shukla, manager Arvind Shukla and Pradeep Semwal were present. Devasthanam Board’s media in-charge Harish Gaur told that after the closure of the portals, the Panchmukhi Doli of Lord Kedarnath left for the first stop Rampur after the due rituals. The Doli will reach Vishwanath temple for Guptkashi stay tomorrow. On 8 November, the Doli would be seated at the Omkareshwar temple, Ukhimath, the winter abode of the Lod Kedarnath. The portals of Gangotri Dham were closed on 4th November, Yamunotri today while the portals of Badrinath will close on 20 November. More than two lakh forty thousand pilgrims reached Kedarnath Dham this year despite the curtailed Yatra period.
