With three of the four Chota Char Dham pilgrimage centres closing for winter, Uttarakhand’s biggest religious tourism run this year has neared its end.
While Uttarkashi’s Gangotri was closed on Wednesday, Kedarnath in Rudraprayag and Yamunotri in Uttarkashi ceremoniously closed for winter on Thursday. The Badrinath shrine will remain open till the end of November.
The state government has been promoting the winter char dham circuit at the seats of these presiding deities, where they are carried down to a lower altitude for six months.
As Kedarnath Dham was closed, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the ceremony. “This year, a record number of devotees visited during the Char Dham Yatra, and the pilgrimage to Baba Kedarnath has concluded successfully. Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the state government is developing Uttarakhand as the spiritual capital of Sanatan Dharma,” he said.
As per the government, 17.68 lakh devotees visited the shrine this year, up by about 1.25 lakh as compared to 2024. Kedarnath opened on May 2, and Gangotri and Yamunotri were opened on April 30.
The idols were taken from the winter seats and brought to these shrines. Mukhba in Uttarkashi is the winter seat of Gangotri Dham; Kharsali, also in Uttarkashi, is the winter seat of Yamunotri Dham; Kedarnath’s winter abode is the Omkareshwar temple in Rudraprayag’s Ukhimath; and Badrinath’s is at Pandukeshwar in Chamoli.
This year, 7.57 lakh pilgrims visited Gangotri Dham and 6.44 lakh visited Yamunotri. The two shrines saw around 1.5 lakh vehicles descending the ecologically sensitive region. Last year, Gangotri saw 8.15 lakh visitors and 7.14 lakh visited Yamunotri Dham.
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As per the state government’s latest figures on casualties during the pilgrimage season, 159 died due to health issues; 13 people, including pilots, in two helicopter crashes; and seven died in natural calamities.
This year’s pilgrimage season was marred by several episodes of extreme weather events, including floods, debris slides and two helicopter crashes. On August 5, one of the worst floods in recent years struck Dharali, on the way to Gangotri, killing at least 69 people.
Though pilgrims were largely unaffected, thousands were stranded in the shrine for days after roads were swept away. Moreover, on May 8, six people died when their helicopter crashed in Uttarkashi, and on June 15, a helicopter ferrying pilgrims from Kedarnath temple crashed near Guptkashi, killing all seven people on board, including the pilot and a two-year-old child.
