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Updated: Nov 17, 2024 05:07 IST
Badrinath (Uttarakhand) [India], November 17 (.): On the fourth day of the ritual preparations for the winter closure of Shri Badrinath Dham, Kadhai Bhog was offered at the Mata Lakshmi temple in Uttarakhand on Saturday.
The sacred offering, part of the temple’s elaborate closing ceremony, was followed by prayers seeking blessings from Mata Lakshmi for the safe return of Shri Badrinath to the sanctum sanctorum.
With the temple’s doors set to close for the winter season on Sunday evening, devotees are flocking to Badrinath in large numbers. As of Saturday, over 7,000 pilgrims have visited the temple for darshan, with the shrine being decorated lavishly with flowers for the final ceremony of the year.
On Saturday afternoon, the Panch Puja was conducted, with key temple priests taking part in the rituals.
Rawal Amarnath Namboodri, Dharmadhikari Radhakrishna Thapliyal, Vedpathi Ravindra Bhatt, Amit Bandolia, Lakshmi temple priest Sudhir Dimri, and Arvind Dimri performed the Kadhai Bhog offering, completing the necessary prayers. The ritual aims to honour Mata Lakshmi and seek her blessings for a prosperous and safe journey for the deity during the winter months.
The grand closure ceremony of Shri Badrinath Dham, marking the temple’s annual winter break, is expected to conclude with the closing of the doors, after which the temple will remain closed until next spring. (.)
