As monsoon retreats, the Char Dham Yatra has picked up pace again with more than 20,000 pilgrims visiting the four Himalayan temples in a day.
The pilgrimage slows down almost every year in the rainy season when landslides frequently block the roads to temples of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
The Yatra has picked up pace again with the retreat of monsoon. More than 20,000 pilgrims are visiting the temples in a day on an average, officials here said.
On Monday, 20,497 devotees reached Char Dham for “darshan” while 38 lakh pilgrims have visited the four temples so far this year, they said.
On Monday alone, 7,350 pilgrims visited Kedarnath, 6,811 Badrinath, 3,619 Gangotri and 2,717 Yamunotri, they said, citing data provided by the temple committees.
This is a substantial rise from the drop in arrival of pilgrims during the monsoon months.
Though a drop in the arrival of pilgrims during the rainy season is normal, Yatra to Kedarnath through the trek route had to be suspended due to largescale damage to it following heavy rain causing a number of landslides which kept the road blocked for nearly a month.
However, the second phase of the Yatra post-monsoon has gained momentum. A large number of pilgrims have registered for the Yatra in the months of October and November, the officials said.
A record number of pilgrims are likely to visit the temples this year once again. Till September 30, a total of 37,91,205 pilgrims have come for Char Dham Darshan, whereas in 2023, 56.13 lakh pilgrims had arrived during the entire Yatra period.
According to official data, 46.29 lakh pilgrims arrived for Char Dham Darshan in the year 2022 and 34.77 lakh pilgrims arrived in the year 2019. The Yatra was affected due to the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The number of pilgrims in these two years was 3.30 lakh and 5.29 lakh respectively.
