Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], October 15 (ANI): The annual Char Dham yatra in Uttarakhand has gained momentum with the arrival of over 40 lakh pilgrims to the four shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri so far.
According to the Chief Minister’s office, 27,789 pilgrims travelled to the Char Dham on October 14. Out of this, Kedarnath witnessed highest footfall of 11,309 pilgrims followed by 6644 pilgrims in Badrinath, 2406 in Gangotri and 3290 in Yamunotri. So far, a total of 40,92,360 pilgrims have visited the Char Dham this year.
Speaking on the arrangements on the Char Dham trails, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the way heavy rains wreaked havoc in Kedarghati on the night of July 31, it was not easy to restore the footpath in that situation.
“The government accepted this difficult challenge and restored the yatra as soon as possible. Now the doors of all the four Dhams are going to be closed next month, so tremendous enthusiasm is being seen among the pilgrims,” CM Dhami said.
CM Dhami said that the smooth, safe and well-organized Char Dham yatra has been the top priority of the government. He said that the government is committed to providing a safe environment to the pilgrims.
“Chardham Yatra is also linked to the economy of the state. In view of the speed with which the number of devotees is increasing in the state today, we have to expand the travel arrangements further. Its exercise has also been started,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that this time the arrangements were affected due to the Kedarghati disaster, but the government also faced this difficult challenge firmly and restored the Kedarnath Yatra trail.
During this Yatra period, till September 30, a total of 37,91,205 pilgrims have come for Char Dham Darshan; whereas last year 56.13 lakh pilgrims had arrived during the entire Yatra period. Similarly, 46.29 lakh pilgrims arrived for Char Dham Darshan in the year 2022 and 34.77 lakh pilgrims arrived in the year 2019.
Yatra was affected due to corona infection in the years 2020 and 2021. The number of pilgrims in these two years was 3.30 lakh and 5.29 lakh respectively.
This year the Char Dham Yatra started with a delay of 17 days from May 10, whereas last year the opening of the doors of Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham on 23 April started the journey.
Then the doors of Kedarnath were opened on 25 April and the doors of Badrinath Dham on April 27. This year the doors of Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Kedarnath Dham opened 17 days later i.e. on May 10 , while the journey to Badrinath Dham started on May 12. The journey will continue till November next month. (ANI)
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