DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand's revered Char Dham Yatra is witnessing an unprecedented surge in offline registrations, with over 27,000 pilgrims registering in a single day on Thursday. This significant increase comes as online registration slots for May and June have been completely filled, pushing pilgrims towards the offline channels.
The state government has made registration mandatory for the Char Dham Yatra. The cumulative figure for both online and offline registrations has now surpassed 3.2 million.
The Tourism Department initiated online registrations on March 20, leading to the current unavailability of slots for the peak months of May and June.
To facilitate pilgrims, offline registration counters were opened on April 28 in key locations including Haridwar, Rishikesh, Herbertpur, and Naya Gaon Vikas Nagar. May 22 marked the first time over 27,000 offline registrations were recorded in a single day.
Meanwhile, Friday witnessed the highest single-day pilgrim footfall of this Yatra season, with a remarkable 67,172 devotees visiting the four shrines. This figure represents the highest daily number since the commencement of this year's Char Dham Yatra.
Yogendra Gangwar, Joint Director and Nodal Officer of the Uttarakhand Tourism Department, told TNIE, "As of Friday, a total of 3,214,250 pilgrims have registered for the Yatra through various means. Out of these, 1,287,836 devotees have already completed their darshan."
Gangwar further stated that the number of offline registrations is expected to increase in the coming days. He assured that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure that no pilgrim faces any difficulty during the registration process.
So far, over 1.2 million pilgrims have successfully visited the Char Dhams against the total registrations.