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Badrinath Dham opened for pilgrims amid fresh snowfall, rain
Flower petals were showered on the pilgrims from a chopper even as many of them complained about lack of facilities and overcrowding
Badrinath Dham was opened to pilgrims at 7:10 am on Thursday amid Vedic chanting and fresh snowfall and rain as thousands of pilgrims visited the shrine decked up with 15 quintals of flowers. The first prayers were offered in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name.
Flower petals were showered on the pilgrims from a chopper even as many of them complained about lack of facilities and overcrowding.
Badarinath on the banks of the Alaknanda River at a height of 3,133 metres is one of the holiest shrines for Hindus, especially Vaishnavites. All Char Dhams are now open to pilgrims. Char Dham shrines remain shut for around six months.
Subrahmanyam Kumar, a pilgrim from Andhra Pradesh, said the shrine was crowded and the queue of pilgrims stretched for nearly two km. “It is cold and we decided to return. We offered our prayers from a distance. But Lord Badri will call us and we will come again.”
Lalit Sharma, another pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, somehow managed to go inside the shrine after waiting for three hours. “We expected better crowd management here. But locals say due to ongoing constructions near the shrine, the crowd management has become a little difficult.”
Ranjit Singh Chauhan, a pilgrim from Hyderabad, said he waited for four hours. “There ought to be some regulations. Elderly people are finding it difficult to wait for such a long time in the queue in snow and cold.”
Raj Shekhar from Hyderabad said they came to Badrinath on Wednesday and stayed at a lodge without proper electricity. “The condition of public toilets meant for pilgrims was pathetic with no water and heaps of garbage and faecal matter.”
Kamal Kishore Singh, a pilgrim from Haryana, said he never expected toilets to be so unclean and without water. “I went to a toilet and immediately came back...almost vomiting because of the stench.”
Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee president Ajendra Ajay said all possible efforts were being made to make the pilgrimage convenient. “But due to construction work, some pilgrims might have faced some inconvenience.”
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the state government is making all possible arrangements for the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.
