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With spell of snow at Hemkund Sahib, over 7,000 pilgrims stopped from visiting shrine
Peaks around Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri also received a brief spell of snow while rain lashed the Garhwal region including the hill town of Mussoorie
The Hemkund Sahib shrine in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district experienced heavy snowfall forcing the district administration to stop over 7000 pilgrims at Rishikesh, Srinagar, Govind Ghat and Ghangria from heading to the shrine on Monday.
“In view of the safety of the pilgrims, those going towards Hemkund Sahib have been stopped temporarily at Ghangaria and Govind Ghat till the weather clears,” Superintendent of Police, Chamoli, Shweta Chaubey said.
With a forecast of more rain and snow in the district, the pilgrims have been advised to wear warm woollen clothes and keep umbrellas, raincoats, trekking boots, walking sticks, caps handy on the yatra route, police officials said.
“The spell of snow began at about 10 am on Monday morning and considering the slippery conditions the pilgrims were stopped from moving towards Ghangria while the pilgrims who had reached Ghangria have been advised to stay indoors till the weather clears,” Sewa Singh, manager of the Gurdwara Trust at Govind Ghat said
NS Bindra, vice president of the Hemkund Sahib Gurdwara Trust said, “Over one foot of snow was experienced at Hemkund Sahib after the first group reached the shrine after which we halted the yatra temporarily and have stopped pilgrims at Rishikesh. We also advised the pilgrims who had reached Srinagar, Govind Ghat and Ghangria to stop till the weather clears.”
“We have seen rainfall in the month of June in the past but this spell of snow in the month of June is a rare occurrence,” Bindra said.
Peaks around Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri also received a brief spell of snow while rain lashed the Garhwal region including the hill town of Mussoorie.
Gurmeet Singh, a pilgrim from Patiala who has reached Rishikesh said, “We were on our way to Hemkund Sahib but were told to stop for the day due to snowfall at the shrine.”
Maninder Singh Bedi, another pilgrim to Hemkund Sahib, said, “We have halted at Govind Dham as the pedestrian path has become slippery due to the snow and will continue our yatra once the weather turns better.”
Earlier on May 22, the portals of Hemkund Sahib, one of the most revered shrines of the Sikh community, opened for devotees. The Hemkund Sahib Yatra was hampered due to the Covid-19 pandemic for the past two years but this time it was resumed with a cap on the daily pilgrim influx. The pilgrims take a trek from Pulna, three kilometres away from Govind Ghat to Hemkund Sahib and after a 6-kilometre steep climb, they stay overnight at Ghangria from where they again make their way to Hemkund Sahib on foot.
Last year over 10,000 pilgrims visited the shrine compared with around 8,500 in 2020. In 2019, 1.65 lakh pilgrims had visited the shrine.
Situated at a height of over 15,000 feet above sea level, Hemkund Sahib has emerged as a popular centre of Sikh pilgrimage visited by lakhs of devotees from all over the world every summer. The shrine is inaccessible due to snow from October to April.
