Pandit Jasraj to perform at the opening ceremony of Kedarnath

Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj will welcome devotees with an early morning performance of 'ragas' at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath when its sacred portals are reopened on May 4 after a six-month winter break.

It is for the first time in the history of the famed shrine that a programme like this has been conceived as part of its opening ceremony, Secretary, Tourism and Culture Umakant Panwar, said.

"Pandit Jasraj has agreed to perform live in concert at the high altitude shrine after the ceremonious opening of its gates in the wee hours on May 4," Panwar told PTI.

"It is the first chardham yatra season following the tragedy which shook the whole nation and we wanted to make it special in every way," he said.

The Himalayan temple and areas close to it in Kedar valley witnessed massive devastation when a calamity of catastrophic proportions hit Uttarakhand in June last year.
The essentially divine and meditative nature of our classical ragas goes with the occasion and the great artist has agreed to grace it with a three-hour performance from 7 AM to 10 AM, Panwar said.

Pandit Jasraj will arrive at the Jollygrant Airport in the wee hours on May 4 and will be flown in a chopper to Kedarnath where all preparations have been made for his concert, the official said.

The chardham yatra begins tomorrow with the opening of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines in Garhwal Himalayas to be followed by that of Kedarnath on May 4 and Badrinath on May 5.

All preparations are complete for the beginning of the chardham yatra slated for tomorrow, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, who is out in the field to assess the preparations, said.