Yamunotri closed for 6 months due to winter season

Yamunotri closed for 6 months due to winter season.

The Kedarnath and Yamunotri portals closed for winters on Saturday and will remain closed for the next six months, Uttarakhand Board of Directors Char Dham Devasthanam reported. The circuit of four ancient pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand, including Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, is known as “Char Dham”.

The Badrinath temple will close on November 20, officials said.

After the religious ceremony of closing the gates of Kedarnath that took place today, a palanquin departed for the temple of Ukhimath Omkareshwar. Similarly, a palanquin of the goddess Yamuna also set out for the village of Kharsali near Janki Chatti.

Meanwhile, the portals of the Gangotri shrine closed at 11:45 a.m. on Friday after the priests performed religious rituals.

A large number of pilgrims and locals were present to witness the ceremony. The Maa Ganga Utsav Doli (palanquin) from the Gangotri Shrine set out for its winter abode in Mukhba, following the closing of the Gangotri gates for the next six months, and will arrive there today on the occasion of Bhai Dooj.

Uttarkashi District Magistrate Mayur Dixit in an official statement reported that during this year, more than 32,948 pilgrims visited Gangotri Dham.

The Char Dham Yatra began on September 18 this year after the Nainital High Court on September 16 lifted the Char Dham Yatra ban and only allowed people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a mandatory negative report from the COVID-19 for the annual pilgrimage.

According to the Devasthanam Board of Directors, more than two lakhs of devotees have visited the four shrines this year as of October 22.

Char Dhams, which attracts thousands of tourists and devotees each year from all over the country and abroad, is closed every year in winters due to heavy snowfall in the region.