Rahul Gandhi in Kedarnath on 3-day visit, had darshan of Mahadev, interacted with devotees (See in pics)

Former Congress President and MP Rahul Gandhi reached Kedarnath on Sunday. He will stay here for three days.

His visit is being considered as a political answer to Prime Minister Modi's Adi Kailash Yatra.

Instead of reaching the VIP helipad here, Rahul Gandhi reached the helipad for common passengers. He walked about half a kilometer to the temple. Gandhi visited the temple from outside and performed the parikrama of the temple.

The former Congress President was welcomed by the Tirtha Purohit community at the helipad. Rahul Gandhi reached the helipad around 1 pm on Sunday afternoon.

After this, while talking with the people, he directly reached the temple. After darshan and parikrama from outside the temple, he went to the hotel.

However, the party says that this is Rahul Gandhi's personal visit and he will stay in Kedarnath for three days.

Even after the 2013 disaster, Rahul Gandhi came to Kedarnath. During that time, Rahul Gandhi had traveled 16 kilometers on foot from Gaurikund to Kedarnath Dham.

Rahul Gandhi shared his pictures of Kedarnath temple in a post on Facebook and said, “Today, I visited Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand and had darshan and puja. Everywhere Shiva."

Rahul Gandhi has been continuously campaigning for the five assembly elections and on Sunday he addressed an election rally in Chhattisgarh.

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

Earlier, while giving information about his visit, Congress said, “Rahul Gandhi is coming to Uttarakhand to visit Baba Kedarnath. This is his personal spiritual journey, all party workers are requested to respect this personal journey and complete it in solitude. You all can extend your enthusiastic support and meet your beloved leader next time. Jai Shri Kedar!”