Bookings complete for Kedarnath Shrine in Uttrakhand Char Dham Yatra

Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Officials at Kedarnath Dham on Sunday said that bookings for 12-day darshan of Kedarnath Dham located in the Rudraprayag district of Uttrakhand have been completed.

Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri are collectively called the Char Dham and the shrines attract lakhs of pilgrims each year.

The Uttarakhand high court had lifted its stay on Char Dham yatra, which officially started from Saturday with a capping on the number of pilgrims that will be allowed daily to the four revered Himalayan shrines.

According to the court, the number of pilgrims to be allowed daily will be 800 for Kedarnath, 1000 for Badrinath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri.

Officials said that around 10,010 e- passes have been issued to the devotees who have registered to visit Kedarnath Dham.

Accordingly, 800 people will be allowed to visit Kedarnath every day and people who have registered recently will have to wait for the coming 12 days.

A similar method is also being followed in Badrinath where a total of 4830 e-passes have been issued so far.

The Uttarakhand government on Friday, in its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Chardham Yatra, made it mandatory for pilgrims to possess a Covid negative report.

According to the SOPs, registration and e-pass will be mandatory for darshan in the four pilgrimages. A Covid negative report is compulsory unless there is a certificate to prove that both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered.

The Nainital High Court on Thursday lifted a stay on Chardham Yatra and allowed only fully Covid vaccinated people with a mandatory COVID-19 negative report for the annual pilgrimage.

The court ordered devotees to follow strict COVID-19 protocols and limited the number of visitors too.