By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
After Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath, the portals of Badrinath, one of the most sacred Hindu shrines in Uttarakhand, were reopened on Thursday morning after a gap of six months.
Amid chanting of Vedic hymns and other Hindu rituals and slogans like Jai Badri Vishal, the doors of Badrinath temple, nestling in the lofty Nar-Narayan peaks in Chamoli district, were reopened at sharp 6.15 AM with priests offering prayers as the temple premises was beautified with marigold and other flowers.
With this, all the four shrines – Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, collectively known as the Chardham, are now open for devotees for the next six months. The shrines remain close during the winter period.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was the first among the devotees to offer prayers.
The Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand had begun on Sunday with the reopening of the portals of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. Kedarnath was opened on Wednesday.
For the first time, the entry of non-Hindus into the three temples except Yamunotri has been restricted. Non-Hindus will be required to fulfill specific conditions in order to gain entry into these temples. In contrast, there will be no such restriction in the Yamunotri Temple.
The use of mobile phones and cameras by devotees within the temple complexes of all four Chardham shrines has been strictly prohibited this year.
Despite frequent disruptions caused by natural calamities, the Char Dham Yatra attracted over 51 lakh devotees last year. This year, too, immense enthusiasm for the Char Dham pilgrimage is evident among devotees; according to official statistics, approximately 1.9 million pilgrims have already registered—both online and offline—for the Yatra.