Decorated in flowers, preparations complete for reopening of Badrinath temple tomorrow

Chamoli (Uttarakhand) [India], May 14 : The Badrinath temple has been beautifully decorated in flowers as a final touch to the completion of preperations for the reopening of its portals at 4:30 am tomorrow.
Ahead of the scheduled date for the opening of the portals of the Badrinath temple, religious ceremonies were also held on Wednesday at the Narsingh temple in Joshimath.
According to officials, only 27 people, including the head priest, will be allowed when the portals of the Badrinath Temple reopen on May 15.
"Devotees will not be allowed entry into the temple during that time. The decision has been taken in view of the guidelines issued by the Centre amid Covid-19 pandemic," Anil Chanyal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Joshimath, had said in a statement earlier.
On April 29, the portals of Kedarnath temple were thrown open after a six-month-long winter break. There also pilgrims were prohibited from visiting the shrine because of coronavirus lockdown.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, last month, had said that Badrinath shrine will be opened on May 15 at 4:30 am.
Last week, Apart from that, May 5 had been selected to extract sesame oil for the 'Gaadu Ghada' tradition. The portals of Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines are reopened around this time of the year after a six-month-long winter break and clearing of snow along the track leading to shrine.