Three days after Kedarnath, the portals of famous Himalayan shrine of Badrinath reopened on Saturday for pilgrims after a gap of six months.

Amid blowing of conches and chanting of vedic hymns and shlokas, the chief priest of Badrinath shrine opened the doors of the temple at 4:15 am on Saturday.

The palanquin carrying the idol of Lord Vishnu was taken inside the sanctum sanctorum on Friday.

President Pranab Mukherjee, who reached Badrinath at 8:15 am, offered prayers at the holy shrine, situated at a height of 3,133 meter in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.  

Mukherjee prayed before the deity at the sanctum sanctorum amid chanting of hymns and high security.

The President earlier went to the Gujarati Dharmshala and had a bath before heading for the rituals.

State Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj accompanied Mukherjee during the visit. The President had spent the night in Dehradun on Friday after taking part in an event here.

An army band also played as the shrine door was opened for the pilgrims. More than 10,000 pilgrims were present for the darshan of the Lord on the first day, an official told media.