Uttarakhand: Char Dham Yatra sees over 21 lakh pilgrims as people flock to temple sites

The doors of the four temples that comprise the Char Dham Yatra, that is Yamunotri Dham, Gangotri Dham, Badrinath Dham and Kedarnath Dham, have opened and devotees are flocking in large numbers to visit the temples. Gangotri-Yamunotri were opened on May 3 and Badrinath-Kedarnath were opened on May 6 and May 8 respectively. 

Over 21 lakh devotees have undertaken the Char Dham Yatra since the pilgrimage began on May 3 this year, the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple committee stated on Thursday, June 16.

According to the Temple Committee, the Char Dham Yatra is experiencing a surge of pilgrims. So far, 21,21,392 pilgrims have visited the Char Dham sites in Uttarakhand. As per the Committee, the travel has been smooth at all four Dhams, and the weather is pleasant. There was light rain in Badrinath, but the weather at Kedarnath was normal.

According to information collected, 7,39,752 pilgrims visited the Badrinath Dham between May 8 and June 16 evening. Meanwhile, 7,14,766 pilgrims have arrived to the Dham of Kedarnath. 

A total of 3,78,539 pilgrims have reached Gangotri Dham till date from May 3 and a total of 1,88,335 pilgrims have reached Yamunotri Dham, as per the records. The number of pilgrims who reached Gangotri-Yamunotri is 6,66,874.

Devotee intake limit increased

As a consequence of the ever-increasing number of devotees undertaking the Char Dham pilgrimage, the Uttarakhand government decided to increase the total number of devotees allowed to undertake the yatra per day by 1,000, applicable to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath separately, thereby increasing the limit for Badrinath to 16,000, Kedarnath 13,000, Gangotri 8,000 and Yamunotri 5,000.

Badrinath-Kedarnath Committee Announces Rs 1 Lakh Insurance For Char Dham Yatra Pilgrims

The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee has announced that the Char Dham devotees will be entitled to insurance of Rs 1 lakh for any mishap inside the premises of the religious sites in Uttarakhand, as per ANI. It's important to note that in this year's pilgrimage, which had started on May 3, 91 pilgrims lost their lives, as per the statement of the officials on May 27. 
Uttarakhand Director-General (DG) of Health, Shailja Bhatt informed and said that heart attacks were the major cause of death of the pilgrims during this year's yatra. An additional battery of doctors was also deployed on the Char Dham yatra route. 

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI