Chamoli: The portals of Badrinath Temple in the Garhwal of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district have been closed for the public from Sunday for the winter season. After traditional prayers, the gates of the famed Himalayan shrine were closed at 5.13 pm, Badrinath-Kedarnath Mandir Samiti sources said.
The gates of ‘chardham’, a set of four pilgrimage sites in Garhwal Himalayas, including Badrinath are closed every year in October-November for devotees due to extreme cold conditions.
They are thrown open to devotees in April-May with the onset of summer.
Thousands of devotees turned up to visit the Badrinath temple before it closed. Traditional rituals for the closure of the temple took place in the presence of priests and scores of devotees. The temple was specially decked up with flowers and lights for the closing.
Pilgrims will, however, be able to pay their obeisance to Lord Badrinath at Joshimath during the winters.
The date for the re-opening of the Badrinath temple in 2020 is yet to be announced.
The temple, which is located at a height of over 10,000 feet in the Garhwal hills and attracts lakhs of tourists and devotees annually, is among the four Char Dham shrines which include Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
With the portals of the other three Himalayan temples — Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri already closed, the closure of Badrinath marks the end of the annual “chardham” yatra or pilgrimage season.
