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Portals of Gangotri shrine to close today
The portals of Yamunotri and Kedarnath shrine will close on Thursday on the occasion of Bhai Dooj as the Char Dham yatra is in its last stage
The portals of Gangotri shrine dedicated to Goddess Ganga will close for the winters on the occasion of Goverdhan pooja or Annakut on Wednesday, persons in the know of the development said on Tuesday.
The portals of Yamunotri and Kedarnath shrine will close on Thursday on the occasion of Bhai Dooj as the Char Dham yatra is in its last stage, persons citied above said.
Meanwhile, the portals of Badrinath shrine will close on November 19, bringing the yatra to its culmination for the season.
Shri Panch Mandir Samiti Gangotri president Harish Semwal said, “The portals of the Gangotri shrine will close for winter on Wednesday at 12.01 pm and the idol of Goddess Ganga will be taken to its winter abode at Mukhimath in Mukhba village where it will stay for nearly six months”.
“The villagers at Mukhba are delighted and have termed it as the homecoming of Goddess Ganga,” he said.
“The goddess coming to Mukhba is like she is returning to her parents’ home... the whole area will be celebrating the event,” Mukhba village resident Sunita Devi said.
Earlier in the day, the shrine was closed for the day till sunset due to the solar eclipse on Tuesday.
“The temple priests got up at 2 am and cleansed the whole temple till 4 am in morning after which the doors of the temple were closed. The doors will be opened after the sunset according to the Vedic rituals,” said Semwal.
“So far 6,24,371 pilgrims have visited the Gangotri shrine as per the data released at 8.30 am on Tuesday,” said Uttarkashi district disaster management authority officer Devendra Patwal.
After the closing of Yamunotri portals, the idol of the Yamunotri goddess will leave for Kharsali village for its winter abode, said one of the persons citied above.
At Kedarnath, the palanquin of the deity will leave for Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath, its winter abode, and stay there for six months, he added.
“The portal of Badrinath shrine will close on November 19 at 3.35 pm this year and the Utsav Murti of Lord Badrinath will be shifted to Narsimha Temple at Joshimath in Chamoli district where the devotees can offer prayer for six months,” said Badrinath Kedarnath temple committee president Ajendar Ajay.
The portal of Hemkund Sahib and Lakshman Temple will be closed on October 10 this year.
Hemkunt Sahib Gurdwara trust vice-president NS Bindra said: “ The yatra this year has been a great success and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifting a ropeway project during his recent visit for the devotees visiting Hemkunt Sahib has made the entire Sikh community happy.”
“We thank CM Pushkar Dhami, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and governor Uttarakhand Lt Gen (retd) Gurmeet Singh for their contribution to the approval of the ropeway project,” he said.
Additional director of tourism Poonam Chand said: “ Now our focus is on winter tourism. We have started working on the direction of the tourism minister to promote the winter abode of all the major shrines under Char Dham so that devotees can visit and offer their prayers for next six months.”
We will also be talking to Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam to introduce packages for winter Char Dham tourism, she added.
