About 10,000 devotees, mostly from outside, used to throng the Gangotri temple on its reopening earlier, but this time, the gathering comprised mostly the locals. Around 2,000 villagers from nearby areas came with the palanquins of their local deities to attend the portal-opening occasion of Gangotri temple.
Some of them, however, looked happy and relaxed with the gathering remaining small. "The occasion warrants devotion and not curiosity. We have got near our Mother Ganga, something we used to miss in the previous years due to the mammoth turnout of devotees from outside," said one of them.
However, those who sell religious and other items to the devotees looked sad. "We hope, people in large numbers would come this year for darshan," said a flower seller.