Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the storied Kedarnath temple here in Uttarakhand as the temple on Wednesday opened its doors after a six-month winter halt. PM Modi offered his obeisance at the Shiva temple and did ‘rudrabhishek’ which involves bathing the Shiva Linga with Ganges water, milk and honey, among others. He also waved to the crowd of about 2,500 devotees present at the opening of the gates of one of the holiest Hindu shrines.
Some more pictures from my visit to Kedarnath. pic.twitter.com/73YuYQJ3f9
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 3, 2017
The Kedarnath shrine in this hill state is one of the major components of the annual Chaar Dhaam pilgrimage. The Kedarnath Valley was destroyed in the flash floods of 2013 but the temple premises was saved of any major devastation.
While at the temple, the PM was also seen making another major statement against VIP culture. Just as he was entering the temple, he sat down to take off his shoes, it was then a man came forward to help him remove his shoes. However, the PM politely refused to take his help.
This comes at a time when the Prime Minister has taken a number of steps directed at ending the VIP mindset of our politicians, including a ban on red and blue beacons for government dignitaries, and his insistence on not redirecting traffic in Delhi when he decided to receive Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina at the IGI airport. The Indian PM also spoke about this issue at length during his address to the nation on Sunday ‘Mann ki Baat’.
PM Modi is the first Prime Minister to perform ‘rudraabhishek’ in the shrine in last 28 years. Former Prime Minister VP Singh was the last PM to have performed these religious rites. During his visit to the famous temple, the PM was gifted a miniature replica of the temple.
Earlier Modi landed at the Jolly Grant airport here in a special IAF plane and was received by Uttarakhand Governor K.K. Paul, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, state ministers and other BJP leaders. Thereafter, he left for Kedarnath in a chopper.
Interacting with people in Kedarnath. pic.twitter.com/vDhCzDrwiC
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 3, 2017
