The portals of Badrinath were opened on May 15 but devotees were not being allowed to visit it during the lockdown.

The Badrinath temple’s chief priest Rawal Ishwari Prasad Nambudiri on Wednesday urged the Uttarakhand government to keep the yatra to the Himalayan shrine suspended till June 30 for safety reasons in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases.

The state government on Tuesday had said that it was preparing to start the Chardham yatra on a limited scale from June 8. However, in a memorandum to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the chief priest of the famous temple and others associated with it demanded that the yatra to Badrinath should remain suspended till June 30.

The memorandum carries the signatures of over 24 people, including temple chief priest Nambudiri and its Dharmadhikari Bhuvan Chandra Uniyal. When contacted Uniyal, he said the request has been made for everyone’s safety in the wake of the rising cases of coronavirus.

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“Health infrastructure in Badrinath is poor and starting the yatra in circumstances like these can be risky. Hence, the chief minister has been requested to keep it suspended till June 30,” he said.

The portals of Badrinath were opened on May 15 but devotees were not being allowed to visit it during the lockdown.
Now that activities are being resumed in a phased manner the state government is preparing to start the yatra to the four Himalayan temples of Uttarakhand, including Badrinath from June 8.