By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 10 Apr: The sacred Char Dham Yatra for this season is set to begin on 30 April. Every year, lakhs of devotees embark on the Char Dham Yatra, a journey widely regarded as the path to spiritual enlightenment and ultimate salvation. With preparations for the 2025 Char Dham Yatra in full swing, an unprecedented surge in registrations has been recorded, reflecting the unwavering enthusiasm of devotees from across the country. In order to ensure a better managed and safer Yatra to the four Dhams namely Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, all of which are located in high mountains, the state government recommends online registrations before undertaking Yatra. Though offline registrations are also permitted but offline registrations will be permitted only to the extent of only 40 percent of the total registrations.
Not only this, online registration is also mandatory in order to book heli services to Char Dham shrines, particularly in respect of Kedarnath which experiences maximum demand for heli services. This step has been taken ostensibly to prevent black-marketing of the heli tickets.
According to the Uttarakhand Tourism Department, a remarkable 14,54,532 registrations have already been done for the Char Dham Yatra from across the country. As per the officials, Maharashtra leads the count with 2,57,174 pilgrims preparing for the pilgrimage, followed closely by Uttar Pradesh with 1,83,950 registrations, Andhra Pradesh follows with 1,66,899, Madhya Pradesh with 1,44,604, and Gujarat with 1,39,630 registrations so far.
The individual dham-wise registrations indicate that 4,90,148 pilgrims have registered for Kedarnath, 4,34,587 have registered for Badrinath. 2,61,427 pilgrims have registered for Gangotri while 2,48,127 devotees have registered so far for Yamunotri. Additionally, 20,243 registrations have been made for Hemkund Sahib so far.
The portals of the revered shrines open on specific auspicious dates each year, marking the commencement of the spiritual voyage. For the 2025 pilgrimage, Yamunotri and Gangotri Dhams will open their portals on 30 April, followed by Kedarnath Dham on 2 May and Badrinath Dham on 4 May.
Taking cognisance of the growing influx of pilgrims, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council (UTDC) has made registration mandatory to ensure a safe and well-facilitated journey. Equipped with a GPS-based monitoring system, this initiative enables authorities to track pilgrims, providing them with government-subsidised facilities such as food and accommodation. Upon registration, devotees receive a special travel card, which grants them access to tokens for systematic darshan at the Dhams.
The Char Dham Yatra continues to witness registrations from across the country. In addition to the top states including Maharashtra, UP and Gujarat, Rajasthan has contributed with 99,080 registrations, Karnataka with 56,029, Delhi with 54,925, Telangana with 51,699, West Bengal with 51,351, Chhattisgarh with 45,295, Bihar with 42,430, Haryana with 36,735, Odisha with 33,670, Jharkhand with 21,164, Tamil Nadu with 15,577 registrations and Punjab with 13,451. Interestingly, so far, 12,954 pilgrims from the host state of Uttarakhand have done registrations for the Char Dham Yatra. Among the northeastern states, Assam has done 2,423 registrations, Tripura 635, Sikkim 247, Manipur 80, Meghalaya 48, while just 18 pilgrims each have registered from Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, respectively.
According to Yogendra Kumar Gangwar, the nodal in-charge of Char Dham Yatra, pilgrims from every corner of the nation are registering in overwhelming numbers, prompting the administration to ensure greater safety and convenience measures. As preparations reach their final stages, local management committees also claim that they are doing everything to smooth passage of devotees.
