Gandhi scion, Rahul Gandhi visited one of the char dhams holy Kedarnath Dham and offered prayers on Friday morning in the Himalayas.
Rahul Gandhi spent whole night at Gaurikund and left for Kedarnath early morning on Friday for darshan of Kedar baba in the lower Himalayas.
After covering 16 km trek with senior Congress leaders, the Congress vice president entered inside the sanctum sanctorum and offered prayers at the holy shrine after the chief priest opened the doors of the ancient temple around 8.30 am for devotees to offer prayers to ‘Lord Shiva’.
Rahul Gandhi answered on questioning about Why he trekked to Kedarnath shrine, “I wanted to walk the distance as a tribute to the people who died in the tragedy in 2013,” said Mr Gandhi, dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans, adding, “Also, I thought if people see me walking, they may also visit the state.” He said he turned down the offer to use a government helicopter to fly to the temple, which opened today to pilgrims.
Kedarnath temple is an 8th century temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and is situated at an altitude of 3,581 meters above sea level. The shrine opens in April-May and closes in October-November every year due to snow.
The temple is located in the midst of fascinating Garhwal Himalayas at the head of the Mandakini river. It was heavily devastated after the deluge hit in June 2013 which claimed lives of thousands of people.
Earlier Gandhi landed in the state capital accompanied by Ambika Soni and Jitin Prasad on his two-day trip to the hill state was welcomed whole heartedly by eminent leaders of Congress. Also Chief Minister Harish Rawat and his cabinet colleagues Indira Hridyesh, Yashpal Arya, Dinesh Agarwal and Preetam Singh received him at the airport.
Gandhi paid floral tributes at the portrait of Veer Chandra Singh Gadwali, a hero in the region.
Rahul Gandhi then had a meeting with the state cabinet on the preparations of the Char Dham Yatra which covers the shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. A presentation was then done to brief Gandhi about the rehabilitation and development work undertaken after the 2013 floods that also caused widespread destruction.
Gandhi lauded the work done by the Uttarakhand government.
News Source : Zee News, Dehradun.
Published Date: April 24, 2015
