Only in 2024 will the long-awaited Chardham Yatra begin. On February 20, registration will open as soon as possible. Instead of travelling in person to the registration centre in northern India, pilgrims are asked to register online for this year’s journey. Each year, thousands of pilgrims give themselves a supernatural blessing. When COVID was established, there was no yatra, but now that the various travel options are available again, it is a great opportunity for all pilgrims. Registrations will be accepted until March 31, 2024.
More pilgrims are expected to arrive this year after a record-breaking 46 lakh pilgrims visited the Char Dham shrines last year. As a result, all district magistrates along the yatra route have been given instructions to determine the carrying capacity at each shrine, plan for lodging to be available nearby, strengthen the yatra routes, use JCBs to clear sensitive landslide zones, and maintain adequate cleanliness, health care arrangements, and waste management facilities throughout the yatra.
The temple committee has a very narrow timeline in which it must streamline the Darshan for Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines, said Yogendra Singh, chief executive officer of the Badrinath Kedarnath temple committee. If the number of devotees reaching the shrines is around 12,000, then it means that the time window for each devotee is only 3 to 5 seconds for Darshan.
He added that the committee is developing a programme to speed up the Darshan process by introducing a token system for routine darshans, while special prayers would be registered online (rudrabhishek). According to Singh, in order to take advantage of the numerous visitors to the temples, women-led self-help groups would be engaged to supply prasad (holy food) for pilgrims.
According to Kumar, accommodations and other amenities at Pipilotti, Helang, Pandukehwar, and Govind Ghat in the Chamoli district on the road to Badrinath would be improved a week before the yatra starts, and Char Dham assistance centres at transit camps will be activated. By March 15 the transport department must ascertain how many buses are operating on the Char Dham Yatra route and must submit daily updates on the state of the fleet. District magistrates are required to guarantee that all horses and mules used in the shrine regions are registered as soon as possible.
The daily pilgrimage camps for Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri were set by the state administration in May of last year at 15,000, 12,000, 7,000, and 4,000, respectively. Nevertheless, in response to complaints, the maximum was raised to 1,000 during the first 45 days of the yatra season. The local business community opposes demanding online registration for pilgrims and limiting the number of persons who can visit all four major sites.
According to Shailendra Matura, head of the Hotel Association Uttarkashi, a number of reservations made in advance had to be cancelled during the previous yatra season due to the restrictions. Because they leave hotel rooms unoccupied and damage the state’s reputation during the yatra season, we have made it clear to the administration that requiring people to register online and capping the number of daily pilgrims are bad ideas. The National Highways Authority of India, the Border Road Organization, and the Public Works Department have all been told to stop blasting by March 31 and put up signboards with electronic displays in hazardous areas.
On the day of Akshaya Tritiya, which this year falls on April 22, the gates of the Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham shrines in the Uttarkashi region will be opened. And the Char Dham Yatra officially would begin. On April 27 this year, the gates of the Badrinath Dham shrine will open at 7:10 am. The opening time of the Kedarnath Dham shrine will be on February 18. The Char Dham, which includes Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri, is visited by numerous pilgrims every year.