KEDARNATH TEMPLE CLOSES FOR WINTERS, LIKELY TO REOPEN AFTER 6 MONTHS

On Thursday, the gates of the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand closed for the winter. The doors of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines in Uttarakhand have also been closed for the winter on the occasion of Bhai Dooj as the Char Dham yatra draws to a close. The yatra will come to a conclusion for the season on November 19, when the doors of the Badrinath shrine will close.

When the Gangotri shrine is closed for six months, devotees can worship Goddess Ganga at Mukhba village during her winter residence.

After the Yamunotri portals are shut, the idol of the Yamunotri goddess will move to the village of Kharsali to spend the winter there. After leaving Kedarnath, the deity's palanquin would spend six months at Omkareshwar.

The temple's doors were sealed at 12:01 pm, according to sources inside the Gangotri Temple Committee, after prayers were offered to the goddess while being accompanied by Vedic hymns.