Uttarakhand's Gangotri temple covered in a thick blanket of snow

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand): Gangotri temple premises were covered in a thick blanket of snow on Monday amid fresh snowfall in the region. The Gangotri Dham, part of the 'Char Dham' pilgrimage yatra located along the river Bhagirathi, was seen enveloped in snow. The idols on the temple premises, the entrance, and the pathway leading to the temple have been completely covered in white snow as the mercury dropped to -14.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The temple's reopening date after the winter break has been set for April 26, and preparations for the 'Char Dham Yatra' have also begun.

The IMD predicts that the temperature is likely to drop -22.3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Along with Gangotri, there has been heavy snowfall in the Badrinath Dham. Due to the fresh snowfall, the Badrinath temple and its surroundings are covered with a blanket of snow. The IMD predicted a thunderstorm in Western Himalayan Region and an isolated hailstorm over Uttarakhand on January 29 and 30.

On Sunday, the IMD tweeted, "Isolated heavy rainfall/snowfall very likely over Western Himalayan Region on January 29 and 30. Isolated hailstorms are very likely over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on January 29 and over Uttarakhand on January 29 and January 30."

Areas like Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are very likely to have hailstorms, which may bring back the cold spell. Fresh snowfall was also reported in Srinagar on Monday, attracting many tourists to the area. The snowfall in Srinagar, however, has affected air traffic and resulted in flight delays. The Director of Srinagar Airport, Kuldeep Singh Rishi, informed the public through a tweet regarding the flight delays and advised the passengers to check the status of their flights to avoid inconvenience.