Kedarnath, Yamunotri shrines closed for winter
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Rudraprayag/Uttarkashi (PTI): The doors of the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath and Yamunotri in Uttarakhand were closed for the winter season on Thursday.
The doors of Kedarnath, the abode of Lord Shiva and the eleventh Jyotirlinga, located in Rudraprayag district, were closed at 8:30 am.
Despite the cold, nearly 10,000 devotees were present at the closing ceremony, chanting "Har Har Mahadev," "Jai Baba Kedar," and "Bam Bam Bhole."
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was also present besides administrative officials, temple committee officials, and a large number of priests.
Now, during the next six months, Lord Kedarnath will be worshipped at the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath, his winter residence.
The temple was decorated with flowers for the ceremony. As the festive palanquin of Lord Kedarnath was brought out amidst the devotional tunes of the army band and the cheers of devotees, the entire atmosphere was filled with devotion.
The palanquin will stay overnight in Rampur on Thursday while on Friday it will reach Guptkashi from where it will be sent to its winter seat Omkareshwar Temple on October 25.
The Kedarnath temple will reopen its doors to devotees in April-May next year. The date and time will be decided during the Mahashivratri festival.
On this occasion, Dhami said the government is also encouraging the winter Char Dham Yatra and urged devotees to seek blessings by offering prayers at the winter pilgrimage sites of the four Dhams.
The chief minister said this year a total of 17,68,795 pilgrims visited Baba Kedar, which is about 1.25 lakh more than the number of devotees who came last year.
This year, despite the pilgrimage being repeatedly disrupted due to disasters during the monsoon, around 50 lakh devotees have come to visit Chardham and Hemkund Sahib.
The doors of Yamunotri, another shrine among the four shrines of the Garhwal Himalayas, were also closed for devotees on Thursday at 12:30 pm amid chanting of Vedic mantras.
Yamunotri Temple Committee spokesperson Purushottam Uniyal said that now during the winter, Mother Yamuna will be visible for six months at her winter residence in Khushimath (Kharsali) village.
This year's Char Dham Yatra has now reached its final stage, with the doors of Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Kedarnath shrines closed for the winter.
The Badrinath temple will close on November 25, marking the end of this year's Char Dham Yatra.
Due to snowfall and severe cold, the doors of Char Dham are closed for devotees every year in October-November and opened again in April-May next year.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
