Temples in Uttarakhand close doors ahead of last lunar eclipse

Dehradun, Sep 7 (PTI) The doors of temples in Uttarakhand, including at Badrinath and Kedarnath, were closed after performing puja on Sunday afternoon, ahead of the last lunar eclipse of the year.

The evening Ganga Aarti at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar was also performed in the afternoon.

The lunar eclipse will begin at 9:58 pm on Sunday, and the Sutak period begins nine hours before that, i.e., at 12:58 pm. Rishi Prasad Sati, vice president of Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, said that due to the Sutak period of the lunar eclipse, all the temple doors under the temple committee, including Badrinath and Kedarnath temples, were closed for darshan at 12:50 pm on Sunday.

He said that after the lunar eclipse ends, the temples will be opened after cleaning on Monday morning. He said that the responsibility of cleaning the temple and its premises in Jyotirmath has been taken by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel along with the employees of the temple committee.

In Haridwar too, before the Sutak period began, the doors of major temples like Daksh Temple, Bilveshwar Temple, Daridra Bhanjan Temple, Maya Devi Temple, Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi were closed after performing the puja.

The Ganga Aarti, which is performed at 6:45 pm every evening at Har Ki Pauri, was also performed at 12:30 pm. A large number of devotees participated in the Ganga Aarti held in the afternoon. PTI DPT HIG