Heavy influx of pilgrims at Kedarnath

A pilgrimage to the Devbhumi Kedarnath and Badrinath provides satisfaction at saturation levels to everyone.

I had an opportunity to go on pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Badrinath along with forty family members. As part of the fortnight pilgrimage, after getting down at New Delhi railway station proceeded to Haridwar in a bus. After visiting Manasa Devi temple and glancing at Ganga harathi proceeded to Sitapur, the base camp of Kedarnath, where one has to trek 18 km to reach Kedarnath temple.

Pre booked Helicopter services also available from 6 am to 6 pm depending on weather conditions. One can witness the hovering of helicopters throughout the day. Each trip carries six people depending on their body weight and luggage.

After reaching the Kedarnath helipad one has to trek nearly one kilometre to reach the temple. The darsan of God Kedarnath gives unmatchable satisfaction. The temple is surrounded by hills on all sides and the flowing of Mandakini river enroute provides immense satisfaction.

However, one has to be careful as the weather changes suddenly from an afternoon at Kedarnath, forcing the cancellation of heli services and becoming challenging to reach the foothills.

More than 14 lakh pilgrims visited the temple a month after the temple's opening on May 6. As the temple authorities opened the temple after a two-year gap due to the Covid pandemic, people from all parts of the country preferred to visit the Devbhumi. To regulate the heavy influx of pilgrims, the Uttarakhand govt introduced free online registration of pilgrims for the Kedarnath tour.

As a result of the heavy influx of pilgrims, thousands of vehicles were stranded in Haridwar and Kedarnath, and it took three hours to come out of Hardwar.

After having the darshan of Kedarnath, I proceeded on the Badrinath pilgrimage. Enroute made a night halt at Pipalkoti 65 km away from Badrinath. En route, one can see the confluence of the Mandakini and Alakananda rivers in two different colours. The journey in the terrain route throughout the day along with Mandakini, Alakananda and Ganga rivers gives imminent pleasure.