Chamoli: The doors of Badrinath temple are all set to open at 6 am on Sunday. It is the fourth pilgrimage centre among the Chardham in this hill state.Elaborate preparations have been made for this much-awaited annual event. Along with the traditional Dolis or palanquins of Lord Uddhav and Garuda, Adi Guru Shankaracharya also reached Badrinath on Saturday. Following the tradition, Lord Kuber’s Utsav Doli has reached Maa Nanda Devi Temple in Bamni village for an overnight stay.For the grand opening of the doors of the Badrinath Dham, the temple has been decorated with 15 quintals of marigold flowers. The arrangements have been made by the Badri Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC).Before the opening of the doors, the temple committee officers and employees are scheduled to reach the temple by 4 am. Thereafter, Lord Kuber will be entering the temple parikrama from the south gate at 4.30 am.This will be followed by the Rawal, Dharmadhikari, Vedpathi and Dimri panchayat representatives and others holding the rights arriving at the temple parikrama by 5 am.
The Dwar Pujan will start at 5.30 am, after which the temple will be thrown open to the devotees at 6 am.A large number of devotees from across the country and abroad have started arriving at Badrinath to witness the ceremony of the opening of the doors of Lord Badri Vishal. Besides the hotels, restaurants and shops starting operations, some devotees have organised a Bhandara (free community kitchen) for the visitors.Badrinath is the last among the Chardhams to open for the devotees. The doors of Gangotri and Yamunotri were opened on April 30, while those of Kedarnath Dham were opened on May 2.The opening of the Badrinath Dham will formally kick-start the Chardham Yatra. After this, the doors of Hemkund Sahib will be opened on May 25.
In order to reach Badrinath, the travellers have to first reach Haridwar or Rishikesh, which are approachable by both road and rail. They can also fly to Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun, which is just 20 km from Rishikesh. From these places, there is road connectivity to Badrinath Dham, and the distance can be covered in seven to eight hours by bus or a private vehicle.The Chardham Yatra is one of the prime tourist attractions of this hill state, and elaborate planning goes into making the journey to the four Dhams located in the mountains as comfortable as possible. A large number of visitors comprises the elderly and the children.The Yatra this year is expected to break the previous records of arrivals as more than 30,000 devotees reached Kedarnath Dham on the very first day.
Similarly, the arrivals at Gangotri and Yamunotri are also high.Amidst high footfall, it will be a challenge for the government to manage human as well as vehicular traffic. The arrivals at Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh are pointing towards the arrivals exceeding the government’s expectations.Sources disclosed that 30,154 devotees visited Kedarnath on the very first day, while 29,534 people have visited Yamunotri since the doors were thrown open to the devotees. At the same time, 17,362 people have visited Gangotri Dham since its opening.Experts who have been keeping a watch on domestic tourism feel that after the panic generated from the recent attack on tourists in Pahalgam, where 26 people were killed by the militants, it is expected that the tourists will now head towards Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This is likely to have a direct bearing on the arrivals at the Chardhams.With the closure of schools in the plains for the summer holidays, a large number of tourists head towards the cool climes of the hills. This adds to the crowds over and above the religious circuits in Uttarakhand.