Mussoorie: The registration process for Char Dham Yatra began on Friday with the Uttarakhand government opening the online portal at 7 am for devotees planning to undertake the annual pilgrimage to Himalayan shrines.
This year’s pilgrimage will begin on April 19 with the opening of the gates of Yamunotri Temple and Gangotri Temple. The gates of Kedarnath Temple will be opened on April 22, followed by Badrinath Temple on April 23.
Prajapati Nautiyal, special mission in-charge of Char Dham Yatra in the Tourism Ministry, said the government has initiated mandatory online registration through multiple digital platforms to ensure smooth management of the pilgrimage.
“To facilitate a smooth process, online registration for Char Dham Yatra began at 7 am on Friday. We are collecting data on the number of registrations received, which will be available late in the evening or in the morning,” Nautiyal said.
Pilgrims can register using their Aadhaar cards through the official portal or via the Tourist Care Uttarakhand mobile app. Devotees will not be allowed to enter Char Dham shrines without registration, officials said. Foreign citizens can register through the email service available on the online registration portal.
The government also announced offline registration facilities to help pilgrims who may not be able to access digital platforms. These centers will begin operating from April 17, that is, two days before the start of Hajj.
Officials said physical registration counters will be set up at key locations, including the yatra registration center and transit camp in Rishikesh, Rishikul Ground in Haridwar, and Vikasnagar in Dehradun.
Hotel bookings in the region are currently at around 8-10%, but this number is expected to rise significantly after registrations start, said Shailendra Mathura, president of Uttarkashi Hotel Association.
“With the opening of registration for Char Dham Yatra, we expect bookings to surge and exceed 50% during the first month after opening the shrine gates on April 19,” he said.
The state government is using a GPS-based monitoring system to track registered pilgrims, which helps ensure the safety of travelers and regulate the number of visitors at each shrine to prevent overcrowding, officials said.
A toll-free helpline has also been activated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (0135-1364) for assistance and to address grievances. Devotees have been advised to complete their registration in advance to ensure a smooth Hajj journey.
Last year, more than 5.9 million registrations were recorded for the Char Dham Yatra, and officials expect the number to rise further this year.
A total of 4.8 million pilgrims visited the shrines of Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib after the gates were opened on May 10. Of these, about 1.42 million visited Badrinath Temple, 1.65 million visited Kedarnath Temple, 0.81 million visited Gangotri Temple, 0.71 million visited Yamunotri Temple, while 183,722 pilgrims visited the temple. Hemkund Sahib.
In 2023, the Char Dham Yatra broke all previous records, with the flow of pilgrims crossing the 5.6 million mark, according to officials from the Tourism Ministry.
