A huge rush of devotees around the hilly approach to Uttarakhand’s Yamunotri – a part of Char Dham Yatra along with Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath – led to a massive crowd build-up on the small hillside path on Saturday.
Many people were seen standing in long queues for hours, a day after the doors of Yamunotri temple in the Garhwal Himalayas were opened for devotees.
Several devotees said that they had been standing on the narrow path for more than two hours and alleged that the authorities had not given any proper thought to safety and crowd management.
“We all are facing a lot of problems and there are no officials to assist us. There is also no parking space and people have been stuck for over two hours,” a devotee, who was waiting in the long queue, said.
“We somehow entered the temple premises but were not sure whether we would come out alive or not,” a woman devotee said.
Char Dham Yatra Began On Friday
The Char Dham Yatra began on Friday as the doors of Yamunotri, Kedarnath, and Gangotri temples in the Garhwal Himalayas were opened for devotees on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.
While the doors of Yamyunotri and Kedarnath opened at 7 am, the portals of Gangotri opened at 12.25 pm in the presence of a large number of devotees.
Thousands of devotees were present in the temple premises of the Yamunotri dham as its doors opened, while about 10,000 devotees witnessed the opening of the portals of Kedarnath.
Gangotri Dhami, along with Kedarnath and Yamunotri Dham, reopened after remaining closed during the winter season.
The Char Dham Yatra holds profound spiritual significance in Hinduism and the devotees undertake the yatra from April-May to October-November. The temples are visited by lakhs of people every year.
(With agency inputs)
