The eerie and almost haunting silence of Kedarnath was broken by peals of bells and chanting of hymns on Wednesday. Puja was performed at the eighth-century temple in the early hours on Wednesday, almost three months since raging floods and devastating landslides had ravaged this small yet bustling temple town nestling in the Himalayas.
Kedarnath, one of the holiest Hindu shrines and part of the ‘char dham’, had fallen silent after the catastrophe that struck on the night of June 16, and in the early hours of June 17. Hundreds were killed in and around the town.
Tons of rubble, large boulders and several feet of sand remain to be cleared from the shrine area. The market in front of the temple, which used to house scores of shops selling religious items, is in ruins even today. So are small and big guesthouses and other buildings surrounding the temple.
In its efforts to look ahead, the state government covered the devastated area under several hundred sq metres of pandals. The smell of chlorine was all-pervasive as the area had been sprinkled with disinfectants. It is feared that dozens of bodies are still buried in the rubble.
Despite the devastation, the temple area had a look of hope. Several priests conducted a ‘havan’ outside and chants of ‘om namah shivaya’ could be heard from loudspeakers. Flowers adorned the temple facade.
But apart from the Kedarnath temple complex, the areas around the shrine were deserted. Barindarjit Singh, SP of Rudraprayag district, said no decision has been taken on resuming the pilgrimage.
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