Door of Badrinath shrine opens for devotees for six months
With the opening of Badrinath, the annual pilgrimage to Char Dham is in full swing. The three other Himalayan shrines — Kedranath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — that are part of the Char Dham yatra are already open.
All the Himalayan shrines are closed every year with the onset of winter as they become snowbound and reopened with the start of summer.
Ganesh Godiyal, president of Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), said pilgrims had started gathering outside the temple since Sunday. “There was a huge rush of pilgrims who had been patiently waiting for the portals to open in the morning,” he said. Around 7.50 lakh pilgrims had visited Badrinath last year.