Char Dham Yatra

The doors of Kedarnath Dham will be closing for the winter season on Sunday, November 3 at 8:30 AM. The Kedarnath site opened its doors on April 25

The portals of the Badrinath Dham in Uttarakhand will be closed for the winter season at 9.07 pm on November 17, the temple committee said on Saturday. As per tradition, the "mahurat" of the closing date and time was decided on the occasion of Vijayadashami on Saturday after an assessment of the Hindu calendar and the position of the celestial bodies, Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Chairman Ajendra Ajay said. More than 11 lakh pilgrims visited Badrinath this year while Kedarnath witnessed a footfall of over 13.5 lakh devotees. As per an earlier announcement, Kedarnath and Yamunotri will be closed on November 3 and Gangotri on November 2. Similarly, the doors of Rudranath will be closed on October 17, Tungnath on November 4 and Madhyamaheshwar on November 20. The temples in Uttarakhand which draw lakhs of devotees each year from across the country and abroad are closed during winter as they remain covered in snow.

The proposed construction of a replica of Kedarnath in Delhi which had created a controversy recently has been withdrawn. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of the temple in Burari. "We decided not to construct the temple as some people from Uttarakhand objected to it and we realised that it would hurt religious sentiments," Suman Mittal, president of the Kedarnath Dham Delhi Trust, which was to build the temple in Burari, said in a press release. "We are constructing no temple with that name now," she said. The Trust has also stopped accepting online donations for the construction of the temple through a QR code, she said. The priests of the Himalayan temple located in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district had opposed its construction saying it was one of the 12 'Jyotirlingas' in the country and replicating it anywhere else meant showing disrespect to the centuries old temple. The opposition Congress had taken out a marc

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More than 650 pilgrims travelling to Badrinath were forced to return without paying obeisance at the temple as they did not fulfil the mandatory registration norm, officials said on Tuesday. Adequate steps are being taken to regulate the rush of pilgrims to Char Dham and avoid the chaos that occurred at the Himalayan temples during the initial days of the yatra, they said. Strict adherence to mandatory registration prior to visiting the temples is being ensured so that the devotees are not inconvenienced, they added. Over 650 pilgrims bound for Badrinath had to return from Gauchar checkpost without paying obeisance at the temple as they did not do the mandatory prior registration, the SSP office in Chamoli informed. As many as 120 vehicles in which the unregistered pilgrims had been brought were also sent back, it said. Action has also been taken against five vehicle operators who carried unregistered pilgrims to Badrinath, the SSP office said. On an average 20,000 pilgrims visit

Uttarakhand DGP also appealed to pilgrims to take extra precautions during the yatra as many tourists coming from outside do not have experience of hill driving

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary said that in order to streamline the process of Darshan at the Dhams, state government has started a process of registration for Chardham Yatra

Uttarakhand govt extends the ban on VIP darshan till May 31, also prohibits of videos being recorded within a 50-m radius of temples

Uttarakhand's chief secretary issued a letter extending the ban on VIP darshan till May 31 and prohibiting videography within 50 metres of the temple complexes

Char Dham Yatra begins from May 10 for all four shrines. The pilgrimage begins from Gangotri and ends at Badrinath following a clockwise route

Himalayan projects need better regulation

In view of the safety of the passengers, the district administration stopped the passengers at Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous bad weather

Two people were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy rains lashed various parts of Uttarakhand on Sunday amid an 'orange alert' issued by the Met office for several districts. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the disaster control room here to review the situation and advised Char Dham pilgrims to proceed on their journey only after taking a weather update. The weather office has forecast intense spells of rain at isolated places in Nainital, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Dehradun, Tehri and Pauri districts on Sunday. "I appeal to the devotees that in case the weather turns bad, they should stop their yatra and follow the forecast of the Meteorological department," he said. Incessant rain triggered landslides, blocking a number of roads, while the water level has risen in several rivers, including the Ganga. A 50-year-old man was killed when his vehicle got trapped under the debris following a landslide in Rudraprayag district. The deceased was identified as Ani

The rush of pilgrims at the Char Dham temples in Uttarakhand is many times higher than their capacity, Director-General of Police Ashok Kumar said on Wednesday, and appealed to the devotees to stagger their visit as the yatra will continue till November. More than six lakh pilgrims have visited Kedarnath since it opened on April 25. Badrinath has witnessed over five lakh devotees since its opening on April 27, according to Ajendra Ajay, chairman of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee. Kumar told reporters, "The rush of pilgrims at the Char Dham temples at present is many times more than their capacity. It is causing all sorts of inconvenience. Traffic management has become difficult. The trek routes to the temples often get jammed and 'darshan' is not smooth for the pilgrims." He added that many pilgrims believe that the yatra is only for the months of May-June. "I want to tell them it will go on till the second week of November. Visiting the temples after mid-September is th

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Reliance Jio on Thursday announced the beginning of its True 5G services at the Char Dham temples in Uttarakhand as the doors of Badrinath were opened for devotees. It will enable all Jio True 5G users from across the country visiting Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri dhams to latch on to Jio's True 5G network and experience its limitless possibilities, Reliance Jio press release said. Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) Chairman Ajendra Ajay inaugurated the service in Badrinath whose doors were opened for devotees on Thursday. BKTC Vice Chairman Kishore Panwar, CEO Yogendra and Badrinath Chief Priest Eshwar Prasad Namboodiri were also present on the occasion. In a message on the occasion, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "I congratulate and thank Jio for bringing in transformational changes in the digital landscape of the state and commencing 5G services right at the beginning of yatra. It will allow millions of pilgrims to take advantage of high-spe

The pilgrimage in Char Dham Yatra yatra includes four shrines namely Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath

Doors open for Badrinath Dham for pilgrims today at 7.10 am, the valleys reverberate with the holy Vedic chants and melodious tunes

The Char Dham yatra began on Saturday with the opening of Gangotri and Yamunotri temples in Uttarkashi district for pilgrims. The gates of Gangotri were opened at 12.35 pm and those of Yamunotri at 12.41 pm, officials of the temple committees said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami performed a puja at Gangotri temple on the occasion of its ceremonial opening after the six-month-long winter closure. Devotees in Kharsali, goddess Yamuna's winter abode, were also showered with rose petals from a helicopter. Dhami also offered prayers at in Kharsali when goddess Yamuna's idol, in a decorated palanquin carried by the priests, left in a procession for Yamunotri Dham where she will be worshipped for the next six months. Welcoming devotees, Dhami said all arrangements have been made by the state government to ensure that they have a smooth and trouble-free pilgrimage. Dhami on Friday had also withdrawn his decision to impose a daily limit on the number of pilgrims visiting the four famo