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After a gap of 86 days, doors to Kedarnath temple, which bore the brunt of the June 16-17 deluge in Uttarakhand, were reopened on Wednesday morning, albeit in the absence of pilgrims.
A little after 7 am, priests performed yajna within the premises of the shrine, located at a height of 3,583 metres.
Subsequently, chief priest Bhima Shanker Lingam opened the doors to the temple.
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The government allowed only a select gathering of priests and politicians for the puja inside the sanctum sanctorum.
In Rudraprayag district, many priests held protests against the government for not allowing them inside the temple. Amid fears these priests might disrupt the puja, the government had arranged for tight security arrangements. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who had overseen the puja arrangements, couldn't attend the puja at the shrine, owing to inclement weather.
Priests, as well as the material required for the puja, had been transported to the Kedarnath temple by choppers, as all efforts to reconstruct a damaged 14-km-long trek were in vain. Also, the government hasn't been able to remove the debris around the temple. Police sources claim there are chances a large number of bodies might still be buried in the debris. The puja will continue till the closure of the temple in November. A decision on the resumption of the pilgrimage to the Kedarnath shrine would be taken on September 30. Bahuguna has said the government would regulate the pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who was proceeding to the temple shrine, was stopped at Fata area in Rudraprayag district.
Nishank termed the puja a political drama of the state government.
