PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Badrinath Badrinath Dham was ceremoniously reopened to devotees at 6 AM on Sunday. About 15,000 devotees were present on the occasion. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami offered the first Mahabhishek Pooja in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name while praying for peace and prosperity in the nation and in Uttarakhand. Dhami also offered prayers at the Lakshmi Mandir, Ganesh Mandir and Adi Shankaracharya’s seat in the temple complex. The army band played tunes while local villagers danced to folk devotional songs on the occasion. As thousands of the pilgrims from across the nation and abroad gathered at Badrinath to witness its reopening for the summer, the chief minister also greeted them and sought their feedback on the Yatra arrangements. Dhami said that State government is making efforts at all levels to make better arrangments to ensure the convenience and safety of the pilgrims. He exhorted all those coming to Uttarakhand for the pilgrimage to cooperate with the State authorities for ensuring a green and clean Char Dham Yatra. It is pertinent to mention here that with the reopening of Badrinath Dham, the Char Dham Yatra is now fully open with Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath Dham having been opened to the public earlier. Visitors use mobile phones banned in temple premises BADRINATH : People thronged Badrinath in the thousands on the day of its reopening to the public on Sunday. Though many of them appeared satisfied with the arrangements, there were some gaps seen on the first day of the pilgrimage. Though the temple committee had banned the use of mobile phones in the temple premises, some visitors could be seen taking selfies and making videos using their mobile phones. Further, the devotees also thronged the ‘VVIP’ gate and Kuber Gulley for a Darshan of the Lord.