HT Correspondent I Edited by Shilpa Ambardar, Dehradun
The portals of Yamunotri Dham — which is a part of the Char Dham Yatra — will be opened on April 22 at 12:35 pm this year, in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district, officials privy to the matter said on Monday.
The exact time for the opening of the portals was decided on the occasion of Yamuna Jayanti (Monday) by Yamunotri Temple Committee after offering prayers to Goddess Yamuna at Khushimath in the district, said one of the officials quoted above.
Temple committee secretary Suresh Uniyal announced the time of the opening of portals in the presence of other temple committee officials and priests.
Sharing details, former temple committee secretary Kirteshwar Uniyal said, “The programme for the departure of Maa Yamuna’s doli (palanquin)to Yamunotri Dham has also been decided. On April 22, Maa Yamuna’s Utsav Doli will reach the Yamunotri temple premises at 8:25 am and on the same day, the shrine portals will be opened at 12.41 pm for the devotees.”
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has instructed the concerned authorities to complete the Char Dham Yatra preparations by April 15. State tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said that there is enthusiasm among the devotees for the Char Dham Yatra, adding, that so far the number of registrations for the yatra has reached 6.4 lakh
With this, the time for opening the portals of all Char Dham shrines has been decided.
The portals of the Gangotri Dham will open on April 22 at 12.35 am. The portals of Badrinath Dham will be opened at 7.10 am on April 27, while the portals of Kedarnath Dham will be opened on April 25 at 6.20 am for the devotees, said the officials.
The Yamunotri Dham shrine is located in a narrow gorge at an altitude of 3,293 metres close to the source of Yamuna . The temple opens on Akshaya Tritiya (May) and closes on Yama Dwitiya (the second day after Diwali, November) for the winters. The actual source of the Yamuna is a little ahead of the temple at an altitude of about 4,421 metres. The aerial distance between Gangotri and Yamunotri is around 46 km.
