The chief priest of the Badrinath temple has reached Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, days ahead of the opening of the portals of the shrine, after testing negative for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and completing two weeks of institutional quarantine.

The portals of Badrinath shrine is scheduled to open at 4:30am on May 15.

Ravindra Singh Negi, Chamoli’s district information officer, said the chief priest of the Badrinath shrine reached Joshimath on Saturday.

“He, along with other priests, will go to Pandukeshwar on May 11 and from there, they will reach Badrinath by May 13 before the portals of the shrine open on May 15,” said Negi.

Negi said the priest has completed his quarantine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh and was discharged only after testing negative for Covid-19 twice.

Manujendra Shah, the king of the Tehri royal family who is considered the ‘Bolanda Badri’ or talking Lord Badri, had on April 20 changed the date of opening of the portals of Badrinath shrine as the chief priest was under the quarantine after returning from Kerala.

This is the first time in history that the dates for the opening of portals of the shrines have been changed.

“Only the chief priest or I have the authority of touching the idols and performing the prayers and the prayers of Badrinath shrine are performed following South Indian rituals as the chief priest comes from Kerala,” Shah had said while announcing the change of date.

“We did not want someone else from northern India to perform the prayers as the rituals are not the same, which was another reason for changing the dates. With the new dates, the chief priest would have completed the quarantine period,” he said.

One of the most visited pilgrimage centres of India, Badrinath is one of the Char Dhams or the four main pilgrimage centres of the Hindus located in Garhwal hills.

The Badrinath Temple is along the banks of the Alaknanda River in Chamoli district at a height of over 10,000 feet.