INDIA, September 12, 2013 (ddinews): The deathly silence brooding over Kedarnath since the June calamity hit Uttarakhand broke early Wednesday morning by the chanting of Vedic hymns as prayers resumed at the Himalayan shrine, 86 days after ravaging floods left over 400 people dead in the Kedar valley.
Shortly after the dawn, as the clock stuck seven, the chief priest of the 6th century shrine, Rawal Bhima Shankar Ling Shivacharya, unlocked the portals of the temple and stepped into the sanctum-sanctorum to perform the puja. The prayers commenced today on Sarwartha Siddi Yog, considered to be auspicious.
The Puja began with a shuddhikaran (purification) of the temple and prayashchitikaran (atonement for prolonged suspension of prayers at the shrine). The chief priest was accompanied by a large number of teeth purohits and Badrinath Kedarnath Samiti officials. The shrine reverberated with the collective recitals of Vedic hymns and blowing of conch shells.
However, the resumption of prayers at the 13,500 ft-high shrine is of limited nature, as no pilgrim is being allowed right now to visit the temple [because the access trail was so heavily damaged]. A meeting is scheduled to be held on September 30 to decide the date for resumption of Yatra to the famed Himalayan temple.