Badrinath temple to close for winter on November 16, Panch Puja rituals begin November 12

The portals of Badrinath Dham in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district will be closed for the winter on November 16 this year. Badrinath is one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites. With only a few days left before the closure, thousands of devotees from across the country are arriving for darshan, and the whole area is crowded.

The formal process of closing the temple will begin on November 12. After all the religious rituals are completed, the main portals will be closed for the winter season on November 16. The rush of devotees is also visible on the road. Heavy traffic jams have reportedly built up on the Badrinath national highway, especially beyond Joshimath, between Marwari and Vishnuprayag.

The Badri-Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC) has announced the full schedule of the traditional Panch Puja rituals held before the closure. Harish Gaur, the committee's media in-charge, said the portals of different temples will be closed in phases from November 12 and the rituals completed. The portals of the main shrine will then close on November 16.

According to the schedule, the portals of the Shri Ganesh temple in the Badrinath Dham complex will be closed with due rituals on November 12. On November 13, the portals of the Adi Kedareshwar and Adi Guru Shankaracharya temples will be closed for the winter. The Khadg Pustak Puja will be held on November 14, and the recitation of the Vedic hymns will be formally halted.

On November 15, Goddess Lakshmi will be respectfully invited to take her seat in the sanctum sanctorum of the main Badrinath temple. After the final ritual is completed on November 16, the main portals of Shri Badrinath Dham will be closed for the next six months, through the winter.

All these rituals and the Panch Puja will be performed by Rawal Amarnath Namboodiri, Naib Rawal Suryarag Namboodiri, Dharmadhikari Acharya Swayambar Semwal, Vedpathi Ravindra Bhatt, Acharya Vani Vilas Dimri and Amit Bandolia.

Badri-Kedar Temple Committee president Hemant Dwivedi and vice-presidents Rishi Prasad Sati and Vijay Kapravan, along with senior officials and many members of the committee, will be present on the occasion.