Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand reopened today amid COVID-19 precautions
Badrinath Temple, popularly known as the Badrinath Dham, reopened on Tuesday amid the government's coronavirus guidelines. All the traditional rituals were performed at the Brahm Muhurta, that is, 4.15 AM. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, only a few locals were present including priests and temple guards. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat took to Twitter and posted a video of the reopening of the Badrinath Temple. ''The safety of people is a priority for the state government. I pray for the health of the people...,'' he tweeted in Hindi.
Mr Rawat also wrote on the microblogging site about the rituals and the covid guidelines in place. The puja and offerings will go on as usual under the leadership of Shri Ishwari Prasad Namboodari and Dharmadhikari Shri Bhuvan Chand Uniyal, the chief priests of Badrinath Dham, the Chief Minister wrote, adding that the ''Chardham Yatra is temporarily postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. I request all of you to worship at home...Best wishes to all of you on the reopening of Shri Badrinath Dham.''
The temple was decorated with about 20 quintals of flowers by the Badri-Kedar Pushp Seva Samiti and the Timri Panchayat representatives carried the holy oil pitcher from Rajmahal to the shrine. Badarinath, one of the holy shrines for Vaishnavites, is among the 108 incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
On Monday, the Kedarnath Temple, another Chardham shrine was reopened amid strict COVID-19 protocols. Gangotri and Yamunotri Temples were reopened on May 14th. The Badrinath Temple will remain till November.