The third day of the ceremonial closing of the doors (kapat) of the Badrinath Dham was marked by a stopping of the recitation of Vedas and Upanishads; and allied prayers. The recitation of mantras was also stopped. After the evening prayers later on Friday, all rituals will also be stopped.
The temple's doors will be shut on the evening of November 17 at 9.07 pm.
The stopping of the prayers and rituals was followed by a handing over of the holy scriptures to the Rawal- the chief priest of the temple, who is a Namboodri Brahmin from Kerala.
Later in the evening, the Rawal will hand over these holy books to the vedapathis who will then formally close these. The singing of Vedic hymns will also stop in the evening. However, worship in the sanctum sanctorum will continue till the date the doors are shut. The abhishek (pouring of milk, honey and water over the deity) will also continue till then.
Not all temples in this holy site are shut down at once. The first temple in the complex to be shut down is that of Ganesh. This was done on November 13. On the day after that, the doors of the Adi Kedarsehwar and Adi Guru Shankaracharya temple were shut.
While the black stone Shaligram of Lord Badrinath is taken away in a decorated palanquin to the Narasimha temple, some 40 kilometres away, prayers are offered to Goddess Lakshmi to reside in the temple in the Lord’s absence. An akhand diya- that stays lit till the temple is ready for re-opening some six months later- is also lit.
With the closing of the temple, the Char Dham Yatra officially comes to an end. This year, more than 9 lakh devotees made the yatra.
While the closing of the temple starts on Bhai dooj after Diwali, the opening of the temple happens sometime in May when the deity is carried back to his seat in a palanquin. The exact day for the opening is announced on Basant Panchami which marks the advent of spring as per the Hindu calendar.
