Kedarnath temple closes on Nov 16, Badrinath on Nov 19

Portals of Badrinath Temple will be closed for the winter season, on November 19. The decision was taken after an astrological calculation at 11:00 am today.

The date for closing the temple portals is decided on the occasion of Dussehra every year.

The Chief Executive Officer of Chardham Devasthanam Board, BD Singh, Rawal Ishwari Prasad Namboodri of Badrinath Dham, Tirtha Purohit and hundreds of devotees, will be present on November 19, the day when portals of Badrinath Temple will be closed.

Eleventh Jyotirlinga Lord Kedarnath`s portals will close on November 16 while the portals of Madamaheshwar will be closed on November 19.

Lord Tungnath's doors will be closed on November 4.

Located in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, Badrinath temple is situated along the banks of river Alaknanda - one of the main tributaries of the Ganga. It is one of the holy shrines among the 108 Divya desams incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

The temple usually opens for pilgrims for 6 months in a year. The gates of Kedarnath temple were opened on April 29 this year while the Badrinath temple was opened on May 15. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not many pilgrims were allowed to visit the temple.

Initially, only Uttarakhand residents were allowed to take part in the Char Dham yatra to contain the spread of Coronavirus. Late in July, the Uttarakhand state government announced that pilgrims from outside the state would be able to visit the sacred shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.

Badrinath shrine is approximately 258 kilometres from Delhi and it takes an average driving time of 12 hours to reach the temple.