TheChar Dham yatrato the four Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri has recorded its highest-ever devotee turnout this year. The four shrines have been visited by 33.46 lakh pilgrims so far, as per data provided by the .
In 2019, the shrines had recorded a maximum footfall of 32.41 lakh devotees. In 2020 and 2021, the yatra was curtailed due to the Covid outbreak and saw footfall of around 3 lakh and 5 lakh pilgrims respectively. The devotee footfall was 26.22 lakh in 2018, 21.93 lakh in 2017 and 14.05 lakh in 2016. This year, the turnout is expected to rise further as there is still a month of the yatra left.
As per official data, this year, the Badrinath shrine has been visited by the maximum of 12.63 lakh pilgrims so far, followed by Kedarnath, which has recorded a turnout of 11.63 lakh. Gangotri shrine in Uttarkashi saw 5.31 lakh visitors, while 4.16 lakh pilgrims have visited the Yamunotri temple so far. In 2019, Badrinath had recorded a maximum footfall of 12.45 lakh, followed by 10.02 lakh in Kedarnath, 5.30 lakh in Gangotri and 4.66 lakh in Yamunotri.