Thousands of pilgrims and devotees, including Uttarakhand Minority Commission chairman NS Bindra, took a ritual bath in the in the glacial lake at Hemkund Sahib before paying obeisance at the Sikh shrine surrounded by snow-clad Himalayan peaks in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, as it  reopened on Saturday after an eight-month winter break. 

Situated at an altitude of 15,500 feet near the famous Badrinath shrine and surrounded by seven mountain peaks, Hemkund Sahib can be reached only after a 20-kilometre trek from Gobindghat on the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway.

Devoted to Guru Gobind Singh, the shrine finds mention in Dasam Granth, a piece of work believed to have been narrated by the tenth Sikh Guru, and is closed for eight months in October because of snow-bound conditions.