Concerning Video Of Kedarnath-bound Chardham Yatra Pilgrims Stuck In Sitapur Viral

The Chardham yatra, the pilgrimage, holds tremendous significance for the Hindu devotees in India. This year, the four-point pilgrimage began on May 10. With its commencement came a surge of pilgrims from around the country. Now a video showing a massive crowd coming to a standstill in Sitapur, a pitstop town about 40 kilometres away from the Kedarnath temple, is going viral. The video shows a few vehicles, surrounded by pilgrims on all sides, coming to a halt.

The man who recorded this undated video is heard saying “If you are planning to come to Kedarnath, please watch this video. This is only Sitapur, which is 40 km from Kedarnath. The place is crowded and management is not making any arrangements to manage the crowd.” This 24-second video has over 1.6 million views on X.

The video prompted people to criticise the authorities for failing to manage the crowd at the onset of the peak pilgrimage season. Many mentioned that such overcrowding could result in a stampede-like disaster.

Commenting on it, an X user wrote, “Hope that the administration figures this out at the earliest. Why were no prior arrangements made when it is expected that a huge no. of pilgrims would visit the holy place? Pilgrims are risking their lives and the administration seems nowhere.”

Another person argued, “The temple is open for 6 months. Why do all the devotees start marching on the 1st day itself? Slot reservation and date allotments should be made.”

Another person wrote, “Pathetic that’s spiritual places essence has been systematically destroyed by influencers, reel makers & social media users who just want to flaunt but have zero spiritualism. Due to this, actual devotees suffer a lot… There needs to be a ban on all such people & activities.”

Following the surge in crowd, the Uttarakhand government told ANI that two Yatra Magistrates, Ashok Kumar Pandey and Pankaj Kumar Upadhyay, have been deployed to manage the crowd at Badrinath and Kedarnath temples from May 26 to June 6. Additionally, the offline registration for the Char Dham Yatra has been paused until May 31.

The Char Dham Yatra, which began on May 10 this year, encompasses the sacred Hindu pilgrimage circuit of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. These holy spots will remain open until the start of November.