Uttarakhand: Amid Covid-19 Pandemic, Over 50,000 Devotees Visited Char Dham Shrines Since 1 July

The number of pilgrims visiting the four holy Himalayan shrines - Shri Badrinath, Shri Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - in Uttarakhand have witnessed a surge after the state government removed the condition of mandatory Covid-19 tests for the Char Dham yatra.

Over 4,800 pilgrims made bookings for the yatra on Saturday (3 October), which is a record for maximum single-day pilgrim booking to Char Dham during the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Hindustan Times.

Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board CEO Ravinath Raman said that over 50,000 pilgrims have visited the Char Dham shrines since 1 July. He also informed that 92,516 e-passes have been issued to pilgrims in this period.

The Char Dham yatra was opened to devotees from state on 1 July while from 25 July onwards, devotees from other states were allowed to visit the holy shrines.

“On Saturday, 4,844 pilgrims made bookings for e-passes for Char Dham pilgrimage which is a single-day record during the pandemic,” Raman was quoted as saying.

With the rising footfall of pilgrims, the Board has now increased the number of pilgrims allowed to visit the shrines.

While the number of pilgrims allowed to visit Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath has been increased to 3,000 each, the daily allowed number for Gangotri and Yamunotri has been raised to 900 and 700 respectively.