Uttarakhand Government Halts Adi Kailash Pilgrimage For Winter
The host villagers of the Adi Kailash area have also begun to migrate to the lower valleys due to the cold, and the number of ILP applications for the pilgrimage is very low, he added.
By : PTI
Update: 2025-11-28 16:30 GMT
Pithoragarh: The pilgrimage to Adi Kailash in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district will be suspended during the winter season this year, an official said on Friday.
The issuance of Inner Line Permits (ILP), required for pilgrims to enter the Adi Kailash area, will be discontinued from December 1, Dharchula Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jitendra Verma said, adding that an order has been issued in this regard.
"According to information received from the Border Roads Organisation and our sources, the lakes around Adi Kailash have begun to freeze, and the approach to the area has become impassable due to frost on the roads. In view of this, we have taken this decision," Verma said.
The host villagers of the Adi Kailash area have also begun to migrate to the lower valleys due to the cold, and the number of ILP applications for the pilgrimage is very low, he added.
Verma said that the issuance of ILP was discontinued on November 15 last year.
The Adi Kailash Yatra began in 1981 with the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, and received a significant boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited in 2023.
Before the Prime Minister's visit, approximately 2,000 pilgrims visited the Adi Kailash Yatra each year, Verma said.
"After the Prime Minister's visit, 28,000 pilgrims visited last year, and this year, 36,461 pilgrims have visited the Adi Kailash so far," Verma added.
According to the official, the construction of a motorable road to Jolingkong by the BRO has increased the number of pilgrims, as the nine-day pilgrimage from Pithoragarh to Jolingkong now takes only two days.