By Admin 
Today Thursday on the auspicious occasion of Bhai Dooj (23 On 15 October, the doors of Lord Kedarnath were formally closed for the winter season amid Vedic chanting and religious traditions. The process of special worship started at 4 in the morning, after which the doors were closed at 8:30 in the morning in an atmosphere of reverence and faith. In this auspicious time, the entire Kedar valley echoed with the slogans of Har Har Mahadev and Jai Baba Kedar.
At this auspicious time of closing of doors, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami also reached Kedarnath Dham and prayed for the happiness and prosperity of the state after having darshan of Baba Kedarnath. He said that with the grace of Baba Kedar, Uttarakhand is continuously moving forward on the path of progress.
Before the doors were closed on Wednesday, the Panchmukhi movable idol of Lord Kedarnath was installed in the assembly hall of the temple. This morning the palanquin was brought out of the Sabhamandap and taken around the temple. After the parikrama, the doors were closed amid chanting and cheering. After this Baba’s palanquin left for Rampur for the night stay. Now for the next six months, the worship of Lord Kedarnath will be performed at Omkareshwar Temple, the winter seat of Ukhimath.
On the occasion of closing of the doors, the temple was lavishly decorated with flowers. Devotees saw this divine scene and bowed at the feet of Baba. On this occasion, many dignitaries including BKTC President Hemant Dwivedi, Vice President Rishi Prasad Sati, Vijay Kapravaan, Kedar Sabha President Pandit Rajkumar Tiwari, Minister Pandit Ankit Prasad Semwal, Dharmadhikari Omkar Shukla, Priest Bagesh Ling, Acharya Sanjay Tiwari and Akhilesh Shukla were present.
17.39 Lakhs of devotees visited Baba Kedar
This year the Kedarnath Yatra was very successful, during the yatra a total of 17.39 lakh devotees attained virtue by having darshan of Baba Kedar. Even on the eve of the doors being closed, more than five thousand devotees had reached the Dham. At present, severe cold has started in the Dham and a dense fog had spread here on Wednesday afternoon, due to which the pilgrims had to return to their halting places as the evening approached. In the same sequence, today at 12:30 pm, the doors of Yamunotri temple of Mother Yamuna will also be closed for winter. After this, the Utsav idol of Mother Yamuna will be taken in a traditional doli to Kharsali village, where she will be worshiped in winter.,