Prime Minister Narendra Modi prayed at the Kedarnath temple on Wednesday the eighth century place of worship in the Garhwal Himalayas opened after winter closure.
Mr. Modi is the first Prime Minister to visit the temple in 28 years after V.P. Singh in 1989.
Mr. Modi arrived in an Army helicopter and headed straight for the temple.
Braving the early morning chill, at least 4,000 devotees had turned up at the temple to witness its ceremonial opening and to catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister. The temple doors were opened at 8.50 a.m. and the Prime Minister arrived just about half an hour to offer prayers and perform a ritual bath of the Shiva linga in the sanctum sanctorum .
He was gifted a shawl, a rudraksha , a wooden replica of the temple and books on the Himalayas by the priests.
He did a parikrama of the Nandi statue outside the temple before walking through the crowds to make for the convoy that was to take him back to the helipad.
The Prime Minister also went to the spot where a huge rock named Bhimshila had rolled down from the mountains in the wake of the June 2013 deluge and was stuck at the back of the temple. The rock is credited with protecting the temple from major damage.
Inaugurates institute
After spending about an hour at the temple, the Prime Minister left in the helicopter to inaugurate yoga guru Ramdev’s research institute at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Modi said successive governments had sought to forget India’s traditional medicinal systems instead of promoting them. He said the new institute would pave the way for a wider acceptance of India’s traditional therapeutic systems. Ramdev conferred the title of “Rashtra Rishi” on Mr. Modi.
