By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
After a gap of six months, the portals of the Kedarnath shrine in Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand were reopened on Friday morning (May 2) amid chants of “Har Har Mahadev and Jai Baba Kedar.”
A record 30,154 pilgrims visited the shrine on the first day till 7 PM, a government bulletin said.
Priests chanted mantras and performed religious Hindu rituals at the time of the reopening of the portals of the Himalayan shrine which was tastefully decorated with 108 quintals of flowers of different hues and colours.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also performed puja at the opening ceremony at Kedarnath.
A record 7.5 lakh pilgrims have already registered themselves for the Kedarnath pilgrimage this season giving a major flip to the Chardham yatra which began on April 30 with the reopening of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines in Uttarkashi district. A total of 22 lakh pilgrims have registered themselves for the Chardham yatra this season which is also a record.
The muhurat ceremony for the opening of the Kedarnath temple shrine was held on the occasion of the Mahashivratri on Feb 26 last in Ukhimath where pilgrims worship Kedarnath during the winter period in Rudraprayag district. The muharat time was 0700 hours on May 2 for this season.
The portals of Kedarnath shrine situated at a height of 3584 meter in Rudraprayag district were closed Nov 3 last.
The portals of Badrinath shrine, which were closed on Nov 17, will be reopened on May 4 at 6 AM. Badrinath shrine is situated in the hill district of Chamoli at a height of 3133 meter.
The Chardham yatra began on April 30 with the reopening of Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines.