President Pranab Mukherjee visits Kedarnath temple for the first time since assuming office

President Pranab Mukherjee paid obeisance at the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, it is his second day of his three-day visit to the hill state.

Accompanied by Governor KK Paul and Chief Minister Harish Rawat, the President spent about an hour at the temple offering prayers and taking a round of it, Sri Badrinath-Sri Kedarnath Mandir Samiti CEO VD Singh said. The President also took stock of the reconstruction work carried out at Kedarnath which bore the brunt of the June 2013 calamity.

It was the President's first visit to the centuries-old shrine after assuming office. Two of his proposed visits to the temple in the past were cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

Mandir Samiti chairman Ganesh Godiyal welcomed the President by offering him eleven Brahmakamals (a variety of lotus) and a replica of the idol of Kedarnath, the mandir Samiti official said. Godiyal led the President into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple where he offered prayers.

The Governor, the Chief Minister and Mandir Samiti officials showed the President around to give him an idea of the reconstruction work carried out at the temple and nearby areas. Mukherjee returned to Dehradun at around 10.30 AM and headed straight to Ashiana, the President's retreat in the city where he will stay for the duration of his visit, which is scheduled to conclude on Thursday after he witnesses a Ganga Aarti on the banks of the Ganga at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar.