Kailash Mansarovar yatra from Lipulekh to resume on June 30 after 5-year pause

PITHORAGARH: After a five-year halt, the Kailash Mansarovar yatra will resume via the Lipulekh Pass, located at an altitude of 17,000 ft in the Byas valley of Dharchula in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district from June 30. The decision was finalised on Monday after a meeting between the ministry of external affairs, the Uttarakhand govt, and various departments in Delhi.
The yatra, which began in 1981, was suspended in 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak and escalating border tensions between India and China after the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020. This year, 250 devotees, divided into five groups of 50 each, will take part in the pilgrimage. For the first time, the yatra will be conducted by road on the Indian side, after the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) completed the Tawaghat–Lipulekh road in 2022.
"The first batch will enter China via Lipulekh Pass on July 10, and the last will depart for India on Aug 22," said Vineet Tomar, managing director of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency for the pilgrimage on the Indian side. The yatra will start from Tanakpur and cover 22 days.
Each group will begin from Delhi, with overnight halts at Tanakpur, Dharchula, and Gunji. Pilgrims will stay two days at Gunji for acclimatisation, during which the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will conduct medical tests to assess fitness for the high-altitude journey, Tomar added. On the return journey, pilgrims will camp at Bundi, Chaukori, and Almora before heading back to Delhi. The fare for the yatra is yet to be finalised, and applications will be invited within the next two to three weeks, Tomar said.
Meanwhile, Vinod Goswami, district magistrate of Pithoragarh, said he would visit the yatra route on Thursday to survey the road and amenities for pilgrims. Last year, while the route was still closed, the Union govt and the Uttarakhand tourism development council developed Lipulekh Pass as a vantage point to view Mt Kailash and Om Parvat and had launched the Kailash Darshan Yatra in Sept.