Kedarnath yatra begins
In all this election brouhaha, another big news was lost – Kedarnath, the holy pilgrimage site, which was devastated in massive floods last year, has been reopened. The char-dham yatra to Kedarnath began this year from 4th May, last Monday and usually, this time around, its peak time, with pilgrims thronging the place.
But post the flood, looks like people are having a rethink. The hoteliers and shop-keepers there, for whom this is the ‘high season’ say that they continue to wait for devotees and most, after seeing the horror on TV, are simply scared to visit the place.
The age-old route, which started from GauriKund via Rmabara, a 14 km long trek through majestic and absolutely stunning views, with the Mandakini rushing nearby, is completely gone. So now the alternate route, chalked and developed by Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) Uttarkashi is 16 kms long. Now the old 7 Km track from Gaurikund to Rambara has been restored and a new track has come up from Rambara through Lincholi for the Kedarnath temple. The old track from Rambara to Kedarnath had been completely washed out and a new track was laid on the other side of the Mandakni river. A makeshift bridge has been built at Rambara to cross the river. This new track was made through glaciers and snow and the last two kms of the track remain muddy due to constant melting of snow on both sides of the track.
Post the flood, the yatra, at least for now is regulated only 1,000 pilgrims have been allowed to go ahead from Sonprayag, the last stop for the vehicles. The biometric registration for Kedarnath pilgrims is being done at Rishikesh and Guptkashi. Hope the pilgrim season this year goes off peacefully and we do not witness another fury of Mother Nature.