Kedarnath and Yamunotri temples close for winter; 1.7 million pilgrims visited this year

Subai: The sacred Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath and Yamunotri in Uttarakhand were closed for the winter season on Thursday, marking the end of this year’s Char Dham Yatra.

The doors of Kedarnath, the eleventh Jyotirlinga and the abode of deity Shiva, located in Rudraprayag district, were closed at 8:30 am amid chants of “Har Har Mahadev,” “Jai Baba Kedar,” and “Bam Bam Bhole.”
Despite the biting cold, nearly 10,000 devotees attended the closing ceremony.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami joined priests, temple officials, and devotees in the rituals as the temple, adorned with flowers, echoed with devotional music and army band tunes.

The palanquin of deity Kedarnath will stay overnight in Rampur before reaching Guptkashi on Friday.

It will arrive at the deity’s winter seat — Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath — on October 25, where deity Kedarnath will be worshipped for the next six months. The shrine will reopen in April–May next year, with the exact date to be announced on Mahashivratri.

Dhami said the government is promoting the winter Char Dham Yatra, urging devotees to visit the deities’ winter abodes.

He noted that 17.68 lakh pilgrims visited Kedarnath this year — about 1.25 lakh more than last year — and despite monsoon disruptions, nearly 50 lakh devotees visited the Char Dham shrines and Hemkund Sahib.

At Yamunotri, the temple doors closed at 12:30 pm amid chanting of Vedic hymns. During winter, deity Yamuna will be worshipped at her winter residence in Khushimath (Kharsali) village.

With Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Kedarnath now closed, the Badrinath temple will shut on November 25, officially concluding this year’s Char Dham Yatra.
The shrines close every year in October–November due to heavy snowfall and reopen in April–May.