Portals of Kedarnath Dham to close on Oct 23, Badrinath Dham to close on Nov 25 for winter season

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], October 2 (ANI): The portals of the Kedarnath Dham will be ceremoniously closed for the winter season on October 23 this year, the Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) said.
The Committee told ANI that the portals of Badrinath Dham will be closed for the winter on November 25, at 2:56 PM this year.
The date for the ceremonial closure of the Badrinath and the Kedarnath Dhams was decided on Vijayadashami.
A grand religious ceremony was held in the afternoon at the Badrinath temple premises to determine the closure date. During the event, the Dharmadhikari and Vedic scholars finalised the date based on Panchang calculations, in the presence of officials from the BKTC.
The Rawal of Badrinath Dham then formally announced the closure date of the temple.
The ceremonial turban (Pagdi) for Bhandar Seva for the upcoming 2026 pilgrimage season is also presented on the occasion.
As per a press release, on the same day, the schedule for the traditional Panch Pujas, which take place before the closure, will also be finalised. Additionally, the auspicious time (muhurat) for the departure of Shri Uddhav Ji and Shri Kuber Ji to Pandukeshwar, and for the Adi Guru Shankaracharya's Gaddi and Vishnu's vehicle, Shri Garud Ji, to proceed to their winter seat at the Narsingh Temple, Jyotirmath, will be decided.
On this occasion, simultaneously, at the Panch Kedar winter seat, the Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath (Rudraprayag), the date for the closure of the second Kedar - Shri Madmaheshwar Ji's portals will be decided. Similarly, at Shri Markateshwar Temple, Makkumath (Rudraprayag), the date for the closure of the third Kedar - Shri Tungnath Ji's portals will also be determined.
Badrinath, one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites, is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and attracts lakhs of devotees every year.
Kedarnath temple is also one of the Char Dham sites in Northern India, located on the bank of the Mandakini River at an altitude of 3584 meters above sea level. (ANI)