"Do not send any VIP till May 31 for Char Dham Yatra": Uttarakhand DGP writes letter to state DGPs

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 15 (ANI): Uttarakhand Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar held a high-level meeting in the state secretariat on Wednesday over the unexpected rush of devotees coming for the Char Dham Yatra.
"In view of the unexpected crowd at the four Dhams, we have written a letter to the Director Generals of Police of all the states of the country and requested them not to send any VIP from their respective states for the Char Dham Darshan till May 31," Abhinav Kumar told ANI.
Over 26 lakh devotees from all across the country and abroad have registered for the ongoing Char Dham Yatra, said Commissioner Garhwal Division Vinay Shankar Pandey.
"Char Dham Yatra is going on in the state. So far, 26.73 lakh devotees have registered for the Char Dham Yatra... More than 1.42 lakh offline registrations have been done in Haridwar and Rishikesh counters. This time double the number of devotees are coming as compared to last year," he said while addressing a press conference on Char Dham Yatra today.
More than one lakh devotees reached Kedarnath since the doors of Shri Kedarnath Dham opened on May 10. So far, 2, 76,416 devotees have visited Char Dham.
In four days, 1,26,306 devotees have set a new record by reaching Kedarnath. All three dhams, including Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, have been bustling.
The Char Dham Yatra commenced in Uttarakhand on May 10.
The Char Dham Yatra holds profound spiritual significance in Hinduism. This journey typically occurs from April-May to October-November.
It is believed that one should complete the Char Dham Yatra in a clockwise direction. Hence, the pilgrimage starts from Yamunotri, proceeds towards Gangotri, onto Kedarnath, and finally ends at Badrinath. The journey can be completed by road or by air (helicopter services are available).
Some devotees even do a Do Dham Yatra or a pilgrimage to two shrines, Kedarnath and Badrinath, as per the Uttarakhand tourism official website.
The Char Dham Yatra, or pilgrimage, is a tour of four holy sites: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. In Hindi, 'char' means four and 'dham' refers to religious destinations, as per the Uttarakhand tourism official website. (ANI)