By Arun Pratap SinghGarhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 12 Mar: The devotees visiting Kedarnath and Badrinath during the upcoming Char Dham Yatra will have to pay higher charges for special pujas this year. The Badri Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has decided to increase the fee for special pujas between 10 to 20 per cent.
It may be recalled that the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand is set to begin on 19 April with the opening of the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines. This will be followed by the opening of the Kedarnath temple on 22 April and the Badrinath temple on 23 April for devotees. The state government and the administration are currently engaged in preparations for the pilgrimage.
It may be reminded here that after the opening of the portals of the Char Dham shrines, the process of conducting special pujas also begins at Badrinath and Kedarnath. Devotees are required to deposit a prescribed fee for participating in these rituals. This year, the BKTC has approved an increase of 10 to 20 per cent in the special puja charges.
In fact, the budget meeting of the BKTC was held on 10 March in Dehradun, during which the proposal to increase the special puja charges was approved. It may be noted that no increase had been made in the charges for special pujas at the shrines over the past two years.
Several special rituals, including Mahabhishek and Aarti, are conducted at Badrinath and Kedarnath temples. The devotees can book these pujas through the official website of the BKTC by depositing the prescribed fee online. Different charges have been fixed for each special puja.
At Kedarnath temple, special pujas are mainly performed during the morning and evening aartis. At present, the charges for the morning pujas at Kedarnath are Rs 9,500 for the Mahabhishek puja, Rs 7,200 for Rudrabhishek, Rs 6,100 for Laghu Rudrabhishek, Rs 5,500 for Shodashopachar, Rs 950 for Ashtopachar, Rs 950 for Panchopachar and Rs 28,600 for the full-day puja.
Similarly, for the evening rituals at Kedarnath, the charges are Rs 1,000 for Shiv Ashtotari Paath, Rs 2,000 for Shiv Sahasranam Paath, Rs 2,000 for Shiv Namavali, Rs 2,000 for Shiv Mahamanstrotam Paath, Rs 1,900 for Shiv Tandav Stotram Paath, Rs 2,000 for Shiv Parakshamastrotam Paath and Rs 2,800 for the complete evening aarti. All these puja charges are likely to witness an increase of around 10 to 20 per cent. The BKTC has not yet issued the revised list of charges, which will be uploaded on its website before the commencement of the Yatra.
Various special pujas are also conducted at Badrinath temple at different times of the day. For the morning rituals, the charge for Mahabhishek puja is Rs 4,700 and Rs 4,500 for Abhishek puja. Apart from this, the fee for a full-day puja is Rs 12,000, while Rs 51,000 is charged for Shrimad Bhagwat Sapt Paath.
The charge for Veda Paath at Badrinath is Rs 2,500 and for Geeta Paath it is also Rs 2,500. During the evening aarti, the charges are Rs 201 for Kapoor Aarti, Rs 401 for Chandi Aarti, Rs 501 for Aarti, Rs 401 for Ashtari Puja, Rs 701 for Vishnu Sahasranam Stotra Paath and Rs 601 for Vishnu Sahasra Namavali.
In addition, Rs 3,100 is charged for Shayna Aarti along with Geet Govind Paath at Badrinath shrine. However, all these charges are set to increase by 10 to 20 per cent this year. Providing further details, BKTC chairman Hemant Dwivedi said that the charges for special pujas at both the shrines had been increased by 10 to 20 per cent.
Dwivedi said that the BKTC is a self-sustained institution and its main sources of income are the donations and offerings made by devotees. These funds are utilised for the maintenance and management of the 47 temples that come under the BKTC. Therefore, during the board meeting it was decided to increase the charges for all pujas by 10 to 20 per cent. He added that various types of special pujas are conducted at Badrinath and Kedarnath temples and that the charges are usually revised once every two to three years.
About The Author
