Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited Kedarnath yesterday to pay respect at the Himalayan temple whose doors will be thrown open to public after a six month-long winter break and which is arguably the most important of the four Himalayan shrines on the Chardham circuit. He had also  inaugurated a research centre at Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar at 12 PM before returning to Delhi the same day. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today flew to Kedarnath to review the preparations ahead of the prime minister’s visit.

PM Modi worshipped Lord Shiva and also performed RUDRAABHISHIEKH for about half an hour during the on going mamtras of the pujari. After the pooja, PM Modi was offered a special gift on behalf of the pujaris of the temple. Mr. Modi politely thanked them for such a token of love. After 30 minutes, Mr. Modi, who was wearing a brown overcoat, emerged out of the temple and waved to the crowds waiting outside for a glimpse of the Prime Minister. He was gifted a shawl, a rudraksha, a wooden replica of the temple and books on the Himalayas by the priests of the temple as he came out of the shrine.

 He also thanked the people nearby the temple and welcomed them as the doors of Kedarnath have reopened from today. He did a ‘parikrama’ of the Nandi statue outside the temple before making way through the crowds to convoy that was to take him back to the helipad. The Prime Minister also went to the spot where a huge rock named Bhimshila had rolled down from the mountains in the wake of the June 2013 deluge and got stuck at the back of the temple. Christened Bhimshila after the tragedy, also known as the Himalayan Tsunami, the truck sized rock is credited with protecting the shrine from major damage.