What’s the winter Char Dham? Why is the Uttarakhand authorities selling it? | Defined Information

Winter seats of Char Dham

Nestled within the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand, are 4 revered Hindu shrines or dhams — Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath — collectively often known as Char Dham.

Every year, from Might to November, lakhs of pilgrims go to these shrines. In line with Authorities of Uttarakhand knowledge, greater than 48 lakh pilgrims and 5.4 lakh automobiles visited Char Dham this yr, accounting for roughly 8.4 per cent of Uttarakhand’s annual home vacationer footfall.

The Char Dham yatra (pilgrimage) thus drives the state’s financial system. However throughout the winter months, heavy snowfall leaves these shrines inaccessible, and their gates are shut. In actual fact, throughout the winter months, the presiding deities of those temples are delivered to shrines at decrease altitudes — Mukhba in Uttarkashi is the winter seat of Gangotri Dham; Kharsali 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.

The winter Char Dham is geared toward drawing pilgrims to those shrines, and thus entice vacationer footfall to Uttarakhand throughout low season months. As of December 30, the shrines recorded a footfall of 15,314 pilgrims with the Omkareshwar Temple seeing the very best footfall of 6,482 pilgrims adopted by Pandukeshwar (5,104 pilgrims), Mukhba (3,114 pilgrims), and Kharsali (614 pilgrims).

Uttarakhand authorities’s hope

In line with the Uttarakhand tourism division, the Char Dham nets the state greater than Rs 200 crore each day. Nevertheless, the influx throughout the winter season is but to take off, though officers stay hopeful of extra footfall because the yatra progresses this yr.

Sachin Kurve, the state’s tourism secretary, mentioned the programme will assist change the picture of Uttarakhand as only a summer time vacation spot.

“Since Char Dham occupies many of the tourism prospects within the state, as soon as the shrines shut, folks have a notion that winter shouldn’t be an apt time to go to the state. Nevertheless, with the launch of winter Char Dham, folks can go to lesser-known locations within the neighborhood of the 4 winter abodes, as we’ve got been seeing over the previous few days. This has impacted the financial system as effectively,” he mentioned.

“When the whole North India is blanketed by smog in winters, we wish to faucet into this crowd as we popularly name it ‘solar tourism’. The winter Char Dham will reinvigorate tourism,” Kurve mentioned.

Some considerations

Environmentalists and activists say that the yatra wants correct administration with a sustainable method.

“ pilgrimage numbers as information is resulting in pointless overcrowding, environmental degradation, and commercialisation of the sacred websites. The elevated footfall is straining native infrastructure, degrading fragile ecosystems, and disrupting the sanctity of the holy locations,” Dehradun-based environmentalist Anoop Nautiyal mentioned.

“The Uttarakhand authorities’s resolution to provoke the winter Char Dham yatra is a major and optimistic transfer… [but] this resolution comes with considerations that should be addressed with care and foresight. The first concern is one in all security, safety and public well being given the terrain and harsh climate within the mountain areas of Uttarakhand,” he informed The Indian Specific.

Ravi Chopra, the previous chairman of the Supreme Court docket appointed Excessive Powered Committee on the Char Dham challenge, mentioned that in winter, uncommon and threatened animals on the excessive mountain slopes and crests come down for meals and water. “Within the ultimate report of the HPC to the SC, we had particularly made a point out that the site visitors throughout winters could cause disturbance for wildlife like snow leopard and mountain sheep as these are shy animals,” Chopra mentioned.

In July final yr, the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal requested the state authorities to determine the carrying capability of the Char Dham, and the Uttarakhand Air pollution Management Board tasked the Wildlife Institute of India with assessing it and submitting a report inside a yr.