Dehradun: The "kapat" (doors) of the Kedarnath shrine opened on Wednesday and proper "puja" was performed for the first time 86 days after heavy rains and floods devastated the region and left hundreds of people killed in Uttarakhand. Thirty priests performed the puja in the presence of office-bearers of the shrine management committee, representatives of the Shankaracharya, officials and local legislator Shaila Rani Rawat. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna was scheduled to take part in the puja but inclement weather forced him to abort his travel plans to Kedarnath. Guptakashi and Kedarnath areas were hit by rains on Wednesday morning.
The temple was decorated with flowers, and the nearby platform and other places which were damaged in the June floods, were covered with marquees. The priests first performed "shuddhikaran" (cleansing) puja, after which the deity at the sanctum sanctorum was bathed in milk, holy water from the Ganga river, and other items were used in the puja of Lord Shiva, state government officials said. The huge rock that saved the shrine was also worshipped today by a team of priests as pujas resumed at the shrine after a gap of 86 days.
The tolling of bells may have brought alive the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath on Wednesday but heaps of broken doors and razed walls just a few meters away are a tell-tale sign of the massive devastation suffered in the June calamity. Several structures close to the shrine are lying in the shambles, with heaps of wooden planks, broken doors and razed walls lying just a few meters away from the temple. Structures lying close to the temple are still cluttered with tons of debris under which a large number of bodies might be lying, officials here said.
"The road route to the shrine has also been opened for a limited number of pilgrims from the nearby areas at their own risk," Rudraprayag DM Dilip Javalkar said. Full-fledged yatra has not yet resumed. A review meeting will be held on 30 September to take stock of the situation and decide on the possibility of resuming the full-fledged yatra.
