Char Dham Yatra: President Pranab Mukherjee visits Badrinath temple

Dehradun: President Pranab Mukherjee, On Saturday morning, offered prayers at the Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand. With this, the annual pilgrimage of the Char Dham Yatra became fully operational.

Mukherjee prayed before the deity at the sanctum sanctorum amid chanting of hymns and high security. He earlier went to the Gujarati Dharmshala and had a bath before heading for the rituals.

The President was accompanied by State Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj during the visit. The President had spent the night in Dehradun on Friday after taking part in an event here.

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An army band also played as the shrine door was opened for the pilgrims. More than 10,000 pilgrims were present for the darshan of the Lord on the first day.

It may be mentioned that earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered prayers at Kedarnath Temple which was opened after a six-month winter break.

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