NEW DELHI, Apr 29: The Uttarakhand government on Thursday postponed the Chaar Dham pilgrimage to four of the holiest Hindu shrines in the state, which was scheduled to start on May 14, as the second Covid-19 wave continued on its daily upsurge.
“Even locals will not be allowed inside the shrines,” said chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat. “Only priests of the Char Dham shrines will perform rituals and worship. People will not be allowed to undertake the yatra [pilgrimage], given the sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.”
Officials said the portals of the shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri will remain open during the pilgrimage season.
Rawat made the announcement postponing the pilgrimage amid fears that it could turn out to be another super-spreader after four seers died of Covid-19 after participating in Mahakumbh in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar this month. Millions of devotees attended the mega fair from April 1, when the state had 2,236 active Covid-19 cases. The active cases rose to 45,383 on Wednesday.
Swami Avdheshanand Giri, Mahamandleshwar (head) of Juna Akhada, the largest of the 13 sects of seers, was on April 17 forced to declare the conclusion of the Mahakumbh amid the surge in the cases. The announcement came after a phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who requested only symbolic participation in the fourth and last Shahi Snan (holy dip) in the Ganga at the mega fair on April 27.
Mahakumbh which started officially on April 1 when the state government issued the official notification for its beginning and scheduled to end on Friday, coinciding with the worst surge in Covid-19 cases that has overwhelmed hospitals and triggered a shortage of medical oxygen, medicines, and beds, was estimated to had been attended by over 90 lakh pilgrims in Haridwar.
Ravinath Raman, the chief executive officer of Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board, said a meeting was held over the pilgrimage on Thursday, where the decision to postpone the pilgrimage due to the Covid-19 situation was taken. “If later in the year, the situation improves, the yatra can be allowed with conditions and Covid curbs,” he said.
Political and religious gatherings have been cited among the reasons for the worst surge of Covid-19 infections that India faces.
Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri shrines are collectively called Char Dham and tens of thousands of pilgrims visit them annually. The pilgrimage begins from Yamunotri in the west. It then proceeds to Gangotri and finally to Kedarnath and Badrinath in the east.
The pilgrimage could not begin last year as per schedule on April 26 with the opening of portals of Yamunotri and Gangotri, the first two shrines that are opened after winter, because of the lockdown imposed to check the pandemic spread in March 2020.
The shrines were opened for local pilgrims on July 1 last year and for those from other states in the last week of that month. In September, the Uttarakhand government removed the condition of having negative Covid-19 reports for pilgrims to undertake the pilgrimage.
Officials said this year the portals of the Yamunotri shrine will be opened on May 14 and that of Gangotri on May 15 on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya. Portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines will be opened on May 17 and May 18 respectively.
(Manas Dasgupta)
