Kedarnath Dham opens but heavy snowfall on route poses problem for pilgrims

The doors of the holy Kedarnath Dham opened for pilgrims on Tuesday morning amid the chanting of shlokas but heavy snowfall and inclement weather in the region are posing a problem for devotees.

Ahead of the opening of one of the country’s holiest pilgrimage sites, the abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers.

However, the Uttarakhand government has stopped accepting registration applications from pilgrims for the Kedarnath Dham Yatra because of heavy snowfall on the pilgrimage route and a bad weather alert from India Meteorological Department (IMD).

“The weather is expected to remain bad in Kedarghati for the next one week. On the alert of the Meteorological Department, the state government has stopped the registration of visits to Kedarnath Dham. The heavy snowfall in Kedarnath has created difficulties for the administration,” an official statement said.

“Registration of pilgrims for the Kedarnath pilgrimage has been stopped in view of the snowfall of three to four feet on the Kedarnath pedestrian route and Dham and the warning by the Met Department,” it added.

Meanwhile, the first batch of pilgrims left Haridwar for the Char Dham Yatra on Saturday.

The Yatra began from Yamunotri Dham on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya.