By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The portals of the sacred Gangotri temple in the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand were closed on Wednesday for the winter season when it remains snowbound.
Gangotri temple committee officials said the doors of the temple located at a height of around 10,200 feet above sea level were closed amid rituals at 11.36 am on the auspicious occasion of the Annakoot festival.
After the ceremonial closure of the temple gates amid chants of “Har Har Gange, Jai Ma Gange” by devotees and priests, the idol of Goddess Ganga left in a palanquin for Mukhba, near the disaster-hit Dharali, where she will be worshipped for the whole of winter.
Gangotri is the first of the Char Dham temples to be closed. More than 7.57 lakh devotees visited the temple this season. The doors of Yamunotri and Kedarnath temples will be closed on Thursday on the occasion of Bhaiduj while those of Badrinath will be shut on November 25.
The four famous Himalayan temples — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, collectively known as the Chardham, are reopened in April-May each year with the onset of summer season.
