Dehradun: The Char Dham yatra has entered its final phase with more than 42 lakh pilgrims visiting the four shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri till now.
While Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines are set to close for the winter season on November 2 and 3 respectively, the doors of Badrinath will close on November 19. The Char Dham yatra gained momentum after the end of the monsoon season with an average of 25,000 pilgrims arriving at the shrines every day.
Around 56 lakh pilgrims travelled to Char Dham in 2023. With the yatra concluding next month, it seems unlikely that it will break previous year's record. There are many reasons behind the low footfall, including restrictions imposed by the government during the initial phase of the yatra, natural disasters and poor condition of the roads.
Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath shrines were opened for pilgrims on May 10. Badrinath shrine opened on May 12 and Hemkund Sahib on May 25.
The commencement of the Char Dham yatra witnessed a huge influx of pilgrims with a record number of 14,03,376 devotees arriving at the four shrines in just 21 days. In view of the rise in pilgrims, the state government had to impose restrictions on the yatra.
Restrictions on offline registration
In the initial phase of the Char Dham yatra, the government had introduced the facility of both offline and online registrations however in view of the sharp rise in pilgrims, offline facility was suspended. Offline registration in Rishikesh and Haridwar was closed from May 15 to 31 and no devotee was allowed to go beyond Rishikesh without registration.
Offline registration was reintroduced from June 1 but only 1500 pilgrims were allowed to visit each shrine daily. But, at that time, 30,000 pilgrims were waiting to visit the shrines through offline registration.
Natural disasters hit yatra
Due to landslide on Badrinath Highway on July 6, several pilgrims got stranded for 84 hours. Although administration had made necessary arrangements, the number of pilgrims started decreasing gradually. Also, monsoons had already hit and conducting the yatra was no longer conducive
Then on July 31, due to heavy rains in Kedar Valley, the Kedarnath yatra route was badly damaged and got disrupted for around a month. Around 18,000 stranded pilgrims and local residents had to be evacuated. Although Kedarnath yatra resumed after 15 to 20 days, there was a significant dip in the number of pilgrims.
Although, the yatra gained momentum from the beginning of October, the existing turnout of pilgrims is unlikely to break the previous record since the yatra is nearing its end.
Among the four shrines, Hemkund Sahib witnessed the highest number of pilgrims but it is 13 lakh lesser than 2023. Till October 21, 42,92,760 pilgrims participated in the yatra of which, 11,76,622 devotees went to Badrinath and 14,46,921 to Kedarnath.
There will be new record next year: Minister Saurabh Bahuguna
Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bahuguna said Char Dham yatra is creating new records since the Covid period. "But this year, due to the natural disasters, it took time to organise the travel routes following which, there has been a decrease in the number of pilgrims. Devotees have a huge faith in the Char Dham yatra and next season, the yatra will definitely achieve a new record," the minister said.
Senior journalist Jai Singh Rawat said there are many reasons behind a low turnout of pilgrims this year and the main being natural disaster that disrupted the yatra for many days. This apart, in the initial phase, when a large number of devotees reached the shrines for darshan, the arrangements had collapsed, prompting the government to impose many restrictions, creating problems for the devotees.
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