Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, on Friday reached 'Baba' Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand as a part of his two-day visit to the state.
Special pujas and yagya-havan were performed in Uttarakhand's Kedarnath and Badrinath temples for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he turned 73 on Sunday.
The preparations for the Annakoot (Bhatuj) fair to be held at Kedarnath Dham at midnight, a day before Raksha Bandhan began on Tuesday, said the president of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee.
The Guptkashi-Gaurikund highway leading to Kedarnath Dham has been completely blocked for traffic due to falling rocks and debris from the top hill near Tarsali under Chowki Phata, said officials, adding that here, about 60 meters of the road has been badly damaged and washed away.
A transparent glass house has been built by Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC). The donations and valuable materials will be montiored through CCTV cameras in the Glass House.
Uttarakhand's Special Task Force (STF) busted a gang involved in cheating pilgrims on the pretext of helicopter ticket booking for Kedarnath Dham Yatra. Three members of the gang have also been arrested, said police on Wednesday.
Boards are put up in several places of the temple premises which read, 'Do not enter the temple premises with mobile phones; any kind of photography and videography is strictly prohibited inside the temple and you are under the surveillance of CCTV cameras'.
In the letter, BKTC asked Kedarnath Dham Police to keep strictly monitor the area around the Temple and take action against those making YouTube shorts/videos/Instagram reels to ensure any such incident is not repeated.
Despite facing numerous obstacles like extreme weather conditions and landslides, a large number of devotees are reaching Uttarakhand's Kedarnath Dham.