Guwahati: As the Kedarnath Dham doors opened for pilgrims, the entrance gate of the temple was adorned with the Assam’s pride Assamese Jaapi.
As many as 20,000 quintals of flowers were also used to beautify the shrine in a special show of art and culture at the Kedarnath shrine.
The Assamese Jaapi is a conical hat wrapped with colourful silk and cotton fabric and built of bamboo. It serves as the Assamese people’s symbol of respect and dignity, much as the gamusa.
It should be noted that on Tuesday morning, amid fervent drumbeats and the chanting of shlokas (hymns), the revered Kedarnath Dham’s doors were opened to pilgrims. One of the most sacred pilgrimage places in the nation is Kedarnath Dham, the home of Lord Shiva.
However, the Uttarakhand state administration had stopped accepting registration requests from travellers for the Kedarnath Dham Yatra. The choice was made after the Meteorological Department provided warnings of unfavourable weather conditions in the upcoming days and in light of the significant snowfall along the pilgrimage path.
The state administration decided to halt accepting applications after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a warning for significant snowfall on the pilgrims’ journey to Kedarnath Dham.
An official announcement states that Kedarghati’s weather is predicted to stay unfavourable this week. The statement read, “The weather is expected to remain bad in Kedarghati for the next one week. On the alert of the Meteorological Department, the state government has stopped the registration of the visit to Kedarnath Dham. The heavy snowfall in Kedarnath has created difficulties for the administration.”
“Registration of pilgrims for the Kedarnath pilgrimage has been stopped in view of the snowfall of three to four feet on the Kedarnath pedestrian route and Dham and the warning by the Mete Department,” the statement added.
The first group of pilgrims embarked on the Char Dham Yatra from Haridwar on Saturday. The holy Yatra set out from Yamunotri Dham on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya.