The holy Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage that had to be cut short last year due to ravaging monsoon, has created history this year with a record of 910 being on the pilgrimage.
The Kailash-Mansarovar yatra was started in 1981with only 59 pilgrims. Though this pilgrimage witnessed a significant rise in the number of pilgrims in recent years, sending 753 pilgrims in 2010, 761 in 2011, 774 in 2012, the figure came drastically down to 106 in 2013 on account of the rains being on an aggressive pitch.
However, in view of the disruption of this holy pilgrimage last year, participation of pilgrims from different parts of the country in record number this year has boosted the spirit of not just the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) which looks after the hospitality aspect of this
Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage but that of the State tourism sector as a whole.
This year, pilgrims from 28 States took part in this 'yatra' i.e. 33 from Andhra Pradesh, 3 from Assam, 9 from Bihar, 27 from Chhattisgarh, 4 from Chandigarh, 2 from Daman and Diu, 120 from Delhi, 2 from Goa, 193 from Gujarat, 15 each from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, 3 from J&K , 2 from Jharkhand, 77 from Karnataka, 35 each from Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, 113 from Maharashtra, one from Manipur, 13 from Punjab, 3 from Pondicherry , 6 from Orissa , 58 from Rajasthan, 11 from Telangana , 32 from Tamil Nadu, 2 from Tripura, 45 from UP, 11 from Uttarakhand and 40 from West Bengal.
A total of 910 devotees were sent on the Himalayan pilgrimage in 18 batches and each batch comprised a maximum 60 pilgrims. The last batch of the Kailash- Mansarovar Yatra reached here on Tuesday after visiting the holy Himalayan shrine. Among others, State Finance Minister Indira Hardiyesh, State Tourism Minister Dinesh Dhanai, local public representatives and officials concerned welcomed the pilgrims on their arrival here on Tuesday.
There were 41 devotees in the last 18th batch of the pilgrims. While Vidya Murthi, 67- year-old from Karnataka, was the senior most among them, Shushil Kumar from Panipat (Haryana) was the youngest in the batch of the 'yatra'. Sharing his experience, G Ramaiah, 65, from Karnataka, one of the pilgrims of this 18th batch, said it was inspiring to visit the Kailash-Mansarovar. The Himalayan pilgrimage is quite tough, given the difficult terrain, yet the same gave them strength to negotiate the challenge, he recounted.
Welcoming the pilgrims on this occasion, Deepak Rawat, Managing Director, KMVN said: "Given last year's experience when they had to cut short the pilgrimage, they took necessary steps on time this year with other agencies to ensure successful completion of this yatra." "Hopefully, the successful completion of the pilgrimage with the footfalls of