Chardham Yatra Updates

Chardham Yatra is an auspicious pilgrimage journey for Hindus to the temples of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in the Himalayas. The doors of the Chardham 2024 are going to be opened soon in May for Darshan.

• Yamunotri Temple – 10 May
• Gangotri Temple – 10 May
• Kedarnath – 10 May
• Badrinath Temple – 12 May

Ever since the gates of the Char Dham Temples opened up for the Yatra, Uttarakhand has seen an influx of tourists within the state. As such, the State Transport Department and the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, Radha Raturi have taken it upon themselves to ensure and maintain the cleanliness of the state.

To deter the tourists and yatris entering the state from littering, the Uttarakhand government has made it mandatory for vehicles to install dustbins and garbage bags. Failing to do so will result in non issuance of trip cards and fines. Due to which, the State Transport Department has also written to the Transport Commissioners of various states including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, about this mandatory rule during the yatra.

According to the chief secretary of the state, trip cards will only be issued after the vehicles have been checked and their compliance with the new rule ensured. Realizing the fact that Uttarakhand is a state that sees crowds of visitors from other states, especially during the yatra season, this decision has been made to protect the natural environment of Uttarakhand to an extent.

In Uttarakhand, the cherished Char Dham Yatra is in full swing as the four sacred Dhams situated in the Himalayas are being visited by devotees from all throughout the world. Worshippers are always ecstatic about the Char Dham Yatra and since the opening of the doors of the temple, over thirty lakh pilgrims have visited the four Dhams over the first 50 days of the Char Dham pilgrimage journey. It is however expected that it is possible to infer from this that this year's Char Dham Yatra will establish a new record.

As the gates of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri opened a few days ago, a huge influx of pilgrims from different parts of the nation are seen visiting the sacred spots. Visitors of around 640000 travelled to the holy destinations within the last ten days as per the data recorded.

Every day, the four holy destinations of the Chardham pilgrimage circuit keep receiving a steady flow of 70000 pilgrims on average. The registration desks are quite busy tallying the number of bookings and have seen a remarkable turnout of around 30 lakh pilgrims. As there is a surge in the number of pilgrims, the UK government and administration have issued measures to look out for the unregistered pilgrims by installing various checkpoints to manage the influx of devotees to the Chardhams. The rise in pilgrims travelling to the Chardhams is a sign of the enthusiasm and strong interest among spiritual seekers in completing this important journey.

Usually, the Chardham pilgrimage yatra takes place in the months of May to October. The Char Dham Yatra is advised to be completed in a clockwise manner. Thus, the pilgrimage begins in Yamunotri and continues to Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath, where it concludes. Millions of devotees from all over the world are approaching the holy Chardham destinations in the Himalayas to offer their prayers and seek blessings from the Gods and Goddesses.

With the Chardham Yatra 2024 all set to begin from the 10th of May, Uttarakhand government is seeing an influx of devotees who wish to attend the yatra this year. The Uttarakhand state government has made it mandatory for the aspiring yatris to register themselves for the yatra, without which no entry would be possible. The government has made available various options for registering oneself for this year’s Chardham Yatra, more information about which can be found on the state’s tourism website. Yatra registration which began earlier this April, is already seeing an influx of devotees.

According to the state’s tourism department, over 19 lakh people have registered themselves for the yatra so far, hitting a new record. The state government and the tourism department has further predicted an increase in the number of devotees attending the yatra this year and hopes the number to go higher than last year, which were already at a staggering 56 lakh! The Chardham Temples are set to open from the 10th of May this year, with most of the devotees planning to visit the Kedarnath Dham in particular, as per the tourism department.

This year the Chardham Yatra is all set to begin from the 10th of May, preparations for which are happening with much fervor and enthusiasm by the state government of Uttarakhand. Registrations for the Chardham Yatra 2024 is already seeing an overwhelming response from the devotees, with the number only expected to go higher in the coming weeks. As such, the state government has predicted that the yatra this year might see visits by more than 10 lakh devotees within the first two days itself. Due to which, the state’s chief secretary, Radha Rutari has sent letters to the chief secretaries of the different states of the country requesting them to avoid sending VIP and VVIPs for the yatra for the first fifteen days, only until the 25th of May, fearing the overwhelming crowd that might cause them inconvenience during the yatra.

For the convenience of the yatris, attempts are also being made to avoid VIP darshans for now at the Kedarnath Dham, which usually sees the most crowd among the Chardham temples. As a measure to further safeguard the yatris, the government has also made helicopter services to the Kedarnath Dham only available through the official website of the IRCTC, which will help the yatris to avoid getting scammed and have a pious and safe chardham yatra this year.

To ensure a comfortable yatra season for the devotees, preparations have been made to accommodate all kinds of yatris. A major concern of the previous seasons has been parking, for which, this year parking facilities have been made better throughout the yatra route. 20 places have been designated for parking with a possibility to park 1495 vehicles comfortably, where the vehicles can be monitored via an app. In regards to cleanliness, more than 700 cleaning staff have been recruited along with the installation of various high tech and mobile modular toilets along the yatra route. In addition to this, a road sweeping machine for better cleaning of the roads has also been assigned.

The mules and horses, around 4,000 of them, will be closely monitored during the yatra, where they will be provided with water facilities and health checkups as well. Hawkers will also be assigned identity cards and dormitories will be made available for those traveling with the mules and horses during the yatra season. To accommodate larger crowds, roads have also been widened at many places and arrangements for ambulances and necessary golf carts are also deployed for the convenience of the devotees. Other than this, health check-up centers will also be operated at around 18 places along the Chardham yatra route. With such initiatives and preparations for the Chardham yatra 2024, the state government is hoping for a safe, blessed and a comfortable pilgrimage for all visitors.

The Health SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) for Uttarakhand Chardham Yatra 2024 has made several guidelines in 11 languages for better understanding of the pilgrims. The SOP will provide special health and travel advice for clear and better communication as the people visiting the Himalayas are from different parts of the nation and face a language barrier.

According to the latest update for 4 Dham Yatra pilgrims, the Health Department has asked the visitors to plan for the Chardham Yatra seven days prior. The health SOP for the Chardham pilgrimage tour is issued in Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi and Oriya including English and Hindi.

Advice and guidelines for the devotees travelling for Char Dham Yatra 2024:

• Take a rest of 5 to 10 minutes every one to two hours while trekking through the routes of the Himalayas on foot.
• Carry warm clothes along with raincoats and umbrellas as the weather conditions change rapidly at higher altitudes.
• Travellers should carry thermometers, oximeters and prescribed medicines during the pilgrimage journey to take care of their health.
• People suffering from specific health issues like heart problems, high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes and any other issues should carry a sufficient amount of medicine and their doctor’s number with them.
• Travellers facing any kind of health issues like chest pain, vomiting, dizziness and shortness of breath must rush to their nearest health centre or medical relief for immediate check-ups.
• 50 screening health relief points are installed on the Yatra routes where the visitors will get medicines, oxygen cylinders and other necessary items. Along that, pilgrims will be examined on 28 different health parameters including high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Telemedicine facilities will also be delivered over the telecommunications infrastructure to the travellers.

Pilgrims planning to visit the Chardham in the year 2024 need to start registering for the Yatra as the online registration portal has been opened from 8th April 2024. People can register through toll-free numbers, email IDs, WhatsApp numbers and the online official website of Uttarakhand Tourism. In 2024, the Uttarakhand government is expecting more devotees than last year and for that eight counters are being opened for manual registration of Chardham Temples. The agencies are working tirelessly for the smooth functioning of manual registration and waiting for orders from the Tourism Department to start the registration process. Devotees will get a chance to register through both online and manual means.

Registration website for Chardham Yatra registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in/

Some important facts to remember:

• No entry is allowed inside the temple without the registration e-pass.
• Mobile numbers of the passengers will be written on the registration slip to receive the necessary details of the yatra.

Standard operating procedures (SOP) with proper health and travel guidelines will be issued in 11 languages as per 4 Dham Yatra News for clear and better communication. Tourists and pilgrims travel to the Himalayas from different parts of the country and face language barriers. Therefore, devotees will get the facility to understand the guidelines in their local language for better understanding. The SOP will be issued in English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi and Oriya.

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