Rahul Gandhi visits Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid obeisance at the Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand on Sunday as he began his three-day visit to the place.He reached there in a private helicopter and was welcomed by the temples priests and Congress workers.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid obeisance at the Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand on Sunday as he began his three-day visit to the place.

He reached there in a private helicopter and was welcomed by the temple's priests and Congress workers. ''Today, I visited Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand and had a darshan and worshipped. Har Har Mahadev,'' Gandhi said in a post on Facebook, as he shared his pictures at the Kedarnath temple.

He participated in the evening ''aarti'' at the shrine and offered tea to the pilgrims as part of ''chai sewa'', the Kedarnath temple authorities said.

Sources said Gandhi will be there for three days. He is likely to participate in a ''sewa'' at the shrine after staying at Kedarnath overnight.

The tour is part of the former Congress president's extended Bharat Jodo Yatra. He had earlier visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar and carried out ''sewa'' there too. Gandhi has undertaken the Kailash Yatra too.

Rahul Gandhi is campaigning for the five assembly elections and addressed a poll rally in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.

The Kedarnath temple, situated at an altitude of 3,584 metres above sea level, in Uttarakhand, is part of the Char Dhams and Panch Kedar in Uttarakhand and one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva in India.