“Badrinath Opening Date On Basant Panchami” Manujendra Shah, Maharaja, Tehri Garhwal

First time after pandemic hit us, I speak with Manujendra Shah ji, the present Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, at his Tehri Garhwal House in New Delhi last week. We sat down for a conversation after almost two years of corona and gloom. It was unfortunate to know that Manu ji lost his mother Her Highness Rajmata Suraj Kunwar Shah of Tehri Garhwal few months ago. I remember he telling me about the car she surprised him with when he was a young kid and how he felt as the luckiest child on having received it. He still have the car and it is kept right at the entrance of this house where we chatted under the soft winter sun on a Sunday afternoon:) As a royal family of Tehri Garhwal, he has to perform the duty to open Badrinath Temple every year as a part of an age-old ritual. He shares the pious procedure in this video.