Doors of Shri Kedarnath Dham Closed for Winter in Presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami

On the auspicious occasion of Bhaiya Dooj (Kartik Shukla Saptami, Anuradha Nakshatra), the doors of Shri Kedarnath Dham, the world-famous eleventh Jyotirlinga, were ceremoniously closed for the winter at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

Before the closure, the Kedarnath Temple was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers, and the entire temple complex echoed with chants of “Har Har Mahadev” and “Jai Baba Kedar”. Despite cold weather conditions, around 10,000 devotees witnessed the spiritually charged event as the Army Band played devotional tunes.

During the Brahmamuhurta, Chief Priest Bagesh Ling and other Acharyas performed Yajna, Havan, and Samadhi Pujan rituals. The self-manifested Shivalinga was covered with local flowers like Kumja, Bukla, Ash, Brahmakamal, and dried petals before being placed into Samadhi, marking the temple’s winter closure.

Following the ritual, the Panchmukhi Utsav Doli of Lord Kedarnath was carried in a grand procession around the temple before departing for its first stop at Rampur. The Doli will reach Shri Vishwanath Temple, Guptkashi, on October 24, and the winter seat of Baba Kedar — Shri Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath, on October 25.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami extended warm wishes to devotees across India and abroad, emphasizing that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, the grand reconstruction of Kedarpuri has been successfully completed. He announced that during the 2025 Char Dham Yatra, over 50 lakh devotees visited the holy shrines, with 17,68,795 devotees visiting Shri Kedarnath Dham — 1.25 lakh more than 2024.

The Chief Minister thanked all departments, the temple committee, security forces, local residents, and voluntary organizations for ensuring a smooth, safe, and successful pilgrimage season. He also appealed to devotees to continue visiting the Char Dham Gaddi (winter) sites, encouraging winter pilgrimage tourism to sustain livelihoods of local traders, homestay owners, and hoteliers.

He assured that security arrangements will remain strong in Kedarnath during the winter months and that winter worship will continue as per tradition.