With the second highest turnout of 783 pilgrims in the 35 years of its existence the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand will conclude on Tuesday.
According to the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the Uttarakhand agency that organises the Yatra via Lipulekh, last year the Yatra had witnessed a record turnout of 910 pilgrims.
In September, last year, after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping an additional route to Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu La in Sikkim was opened for pilgrims. Due to an additional route there were fears of reduction in the number of pilgrims preferring the route via Uttarakhand, D. K. Sharma, Divisional Manager in KMVN said.
However, this year too, large number of tourists undertook the Yatra via Lipulekh, Mr. Sharma said. “The Yatra started on June 12 and 783 pilgrims in 18 batches undertook the Yatra,” he added.
