The Char Dham Yatra of this year came to an official end as the sacred Badrinath Temple of Uttarakhand officially shut its doors and said goodbye to the winter season. The shutdown is after the end of the worship in the remaining three holy shrines, Yamunotri, Gangotri, and Kedarnath, which had already been closed at the beginning of this month because of the decreasing temperatures and heavy snows in the Himalayan area.
To facilitate the shutting down of the temple, the state government and temple committees have arranged some special provisions at the worship places in winter; the deities of the Char Dham temples are relocated ceremoniously in the cold months. These are sites at a lower altitude, which allow the devotees to keep on praying even in cases where the main shrines are inaccessible.
The Badrinath Temple is a very spiritual occasion, which is performed annually to shut the doors of the temple, after which hundreds of followers and priests are present and perform ancient ceremonies and songs in front of the doors. Lord Badri Vishal is then transported to Joshimath and is then worshipped until the next year, usually in April or May, but this depends on the weather conditions.
The government has provided enough amenities to worshipers that come to these winter locations, such as accommodation, health care and appropriate crowd control. To maintain the lives of local people elsewhere in the off-season, the Uttarakhand Tourism and Char Dham management boards are also emphasizing winter tourism in the surrounding towns such as Pontukeshwar and Joshimath.
This year, the officials reported that more pilgrims than before had attended the Char Dham Yatra, indicating the increasing faith and better infrastructure. The early arrival of this season and the fall of the temperature in the elevated parts of the Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts rendered a premature termination of the season.
The closing of the doors of Badrinath is not only the termination of the pilgrimage season but also marks the start of winter worship practices, which have a vast cultural and religious significance in Uttarakhand. With the year ending, pilgrims taking their leave of the sacred shrines, preparations are already in process for the big opening during the next pilgrimage season, which is attended by millions of pilgrims both in India and elsewhere.
