Kedarnath Temple reopening date will remain April 29

The doors of Shri Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand will reopen on April 29, 2020, as per its previous schedule. The decision has been announced today in a meeting attended by Kedarnath Rawal Bhimashankar Linga, Senior Tirth Purohit, Vedpathis and Acharya and other important members of Panchagai Samiti at the Panchkedar Gaddisthal Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath.

The date for the reopening ceremony of Kedarnath was changed to May 14 yesterday by the government authorities of Uttarakhand. However, this decision was not welcomed by the priest community. Sources say that the Teerth Purohit said that it is not auspicious to change the date of reopening ceremony of Kedarnath’s doors. They also emphasised that if the date is changed for reopening the Kedarnath temple, they will have to change the reopening date for Madhyamaheshwar Temple as well as Tungnath Temple too. The reopening dates for the remaining two temples have been decided for May 11 and May 20.
Another argument given by the Teerth Purohit was that the date for the special ritualistic worship of Bhairav Devta, the Kshetrapal (gatekeeper) of Kedarnath, has to be tweaked which is not a feasible idea.
Baba Kedar's doli will leave the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath, the winter home of Lord Kedar, on April 26. The reopening ceremony will be conducted at Kedarnath Temple on April 29 at 6:10 AM. On the other hand, the reopening date for Badrinath Temple will be May 15, as announced on Monday by the state government authorities as the Rawal (head priest) of the shrine is still in Kerala due to the ongoing lockdown. As soon as he reaches the state once the lockdown is lifted, he will have to stay under quarantine for two weeks. Hence, the reopening date has been postponed.