May 17, 2024 01:57 AM IST
In the first six days of the pilgrimage, till Wednesday, 3,34,732 people from India and abroad have visited the shrines to offer prayers.
The Uttarakhand government on Thursday decided not to allow the practice of VIP darshan at the Char Dham temples and imposed a ban on videography and making social media reels within a 50 metre radius of the shrines amid a surge in pilgrims, officials aware of the matter said.
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In a letter to her counterparts in all states and Union territories, chief secretary Radha Raturi said, “I would like to inform that this year, there is continuous surge in the number of pilgrims visiting the Holy Char Dham in Uttarakhand. For better management, we have decided not to have any ‘VIP Darshan’ till 31 May, 2024.”
“Char Dham Yatra is being conducted smoothly. Arrangements have been made to ensure systematic darshan to the pilgrims, but at present it has been noticed that videography/reels are being made for social media in the temple premises, due to which crowd gathers at one place, and devotees are facing inconvenience. Therefore, keeping in mind the convenience of the devotees, making videography/reels for social media within the radius of 50 metres of the temple premises in Char Dham is completely banned,” the letter further stated.
Earlier Raturi had said that use of mobile phones within 200 metres of Char Dham shrines will be banned. He added that the administration will register cases against those who are caught making reels and spreading misinformation about Char Dham yatra.
“Making reels with misleading information is a crime. If you are going for a yatra with faith, making reels near temples is wrong,” she said.
The Char Dham yatra started on May 10. In the first six days of the pilgrimage, till Wednesday, 3,34,732 people from India and abroad have visited the shrines to offer prayers. Registration for the yatra started on April 25 and, till Thursday evening, more than 270,000 devotees had registered for it.
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In another letter written to the chief secretaries of other states on April 30, the chief secretary said, “Elderly devotees with a medical history should get themselves tested before embarking on the yatra and follow the guidelines issued by the health department of Uttarakhand.”
