The Kedarnath temple, one of the 12 Jyotirlings, will open for devotees this Akshaya Tritiya and tentatively shut November 3 or Kartik Purnima November 15 or Bhai Dooj, November 20, depending on the weather.
According to a statement from the Rudraprayag police, the landslide was triggered by continuous heavy rainfall, which caused large amounts of debris and stones to fall onto the trekking route, blocking and damaging the walkway to Kedarnath Dham.
Before he visited forward posts to review security and operational readiness on Monday, June 9, 2025, Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi visited Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag on Sunday.
He said that just as there are rules related to religious conduct in mosques and churches, there are also traditional rules in Hindu religious places.
Five pilgrims and a pilot onboard a helicopter had a narrow escape when the aircraft on its way to Kedarnath made an emergency landing on the highway in Rudraprayag district on Saturday after developing a technical snag during take-off, officials said.
Devotees brave bad weather and severe cold for darshan at Kedarnath Dham, Rudraprayag.
The Kedarnath temple in the Garhwal Himalayas opened for devotees on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya after remaining closed during the winter.
A landslide on the Kedarnath route in Uttarakhand killed two pilgrims and injured six, while heavy rain led to the temporary suspension of the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib pilgrimages.
The Indian Army and Indian Air Force rescued pilgrims from landslide-affected areas of Sonprayag on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, and from Kedarnath Dham on Monday, August 5, 2024 respectively.
After chairing an emergency meeting with senior officials to discuss the situation, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that heli services on the Char Dham route will remain suspended for two days, as the weather is bad and the safety of the passengers is the government's top priority.
'People want to do business in the name of the Kedarnath temple.'
The recent helicopter crash near Kedarnath, in which seven lives were lost, has proven yet again that aviation regulatory authorities have not learnt lessons from similar air mishaps in the challenging Kedar valley and have done little to improve flying conditions.
Soon after the crash on Sunday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held an emergency meeting and asked senior officials to prepare a strict SOP (standard operating procedure) for heli services in the state, making a thorough check of the technical condition of the choppers mandatory.
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Rudraprayag District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar told PTI that the accident took place above the forests of Gaurikund amid poor visibility due to bad weather.
The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee on Wednesday dismissed Jyotirmath Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand's allegations that 228 kg gold bought for lining the Kedarnath temple's internal walls is missing, and asked him to approach authorities if he had any evidence.
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The government will review the weather conditions in the coming days and accordingly take a decision in the interest of the pilgrims, he said.
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The process of opening the doors of Kedar Dham began at 3 am. Shiva Shankar Linga, the chief priest of the shrine, carried out the tradition of opening the doors. The first 'pooja' was performed in the name of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said a statement.
Snowfall and rain hit the Char Dham Yatra on Tuesday with thousands of pilgrims halted en route to Kedarnath and Yamunotri temples in the Garhwal Himalayas as a precautionary measure.
The aftermath of the cloudburst triggered by heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
In a video that surfaced online, senior priest Santosh Trivedi alleged that the temple's sanctum sanctorum has been covered with brass plates in the name of gold plating, claiming it is a 'Rs 125 crore scam'.
A helicopter carrying pilgrims from Guptkashi to Kedarnath crashed on Tuesday amid poor visibility and seven people on board are feared dead.
Additionally, rates in the aviation sector are also expected to increase due to huge claim outgo in the Air India crash.
Tatas, Ambanis, Adanis, Birlas contributed an average of Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore per family group.
Ending the line at Pipalkoti will mean the army will have to cover a longer distance to the China border by road than it would have needed to had the rail link gone up to Joshimath.
Citing the example of last year, he said many pilgrims who came for the yatra from rural areas of Uttar Pradesh had to return from Rishikesh and Haridwar as they had not registered in advance for it.
'The government only wakes up after devastation.' 'The government does not understand the gravity of the situation nor they do not want to understand the gravity of the situation.'
The drive begins just days ahead of the Char Dham Yatra in the state.
Increasing tourism for recreational purpose and ruthless commercialism are to be blamed for the destruction caused in Kedarnath, believes Vageeshling Maharaj, chief purohit of Kedarnath dham.
Resumption of 'Char Dham yatra' after a gap of two Covid-marred years is a welcome development for thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on it, but the death of 78 pilgrims on way to the Himalayan temples in less than a month is causing concern.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the famous Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district on Friday.
'This is probably why the late General Bipin Rawat, who hails from the Garhwal Himalaya, said that the existing roads are fine with the army.'
Since the yatra began, as many as 28 tourists en route to Kedarnath have died due to various reasons.
A Border Roads Organisation team will be stationed in Joshimath to monitor the yatra on a day-to-day basis and ensure immediate treatment of cracks on roads or any other problem that might arise, the chief minister said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Mukhwa temple in Uttarakhand, the winter abode of Goddess Ganga, and offered prayers. The visit is expected to boost winter pilgrimage and tourism in the state. Modi also flagged off a trek and bike rally and addressed a public meeting in Harshil. This comes a day after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved two major ropeway projects to Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib worth over Rs 6,000 crore.
'The problem is that all this reconstruction work is being monitored by the prime minister himself with inputs being provided directly by the PMO so nobody in the state government dare contradict them even if their suggestions are totally contrary to what the ecology of this region requires.'
The famous Char Dham pilgrimage began on Wednesday with the reopening of the Gangotri and the Yamnotri shrines in the Garhwal Himalayas after a period of six months.
A Rs 195 crore-package was announced by the government on Friday for reconstruction of the 'Char Dham' pilgrimage circuit, which was badly affected by the Uttarakhand rain disaster.
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