Hemkund Sahib opens to pilgrims after Uttarakhand floods

About 200 pilgrims visited the Hemkund Sahib in Garhwal Himalayas today after pilgrimage to the famous Sikh shrine resumed last Saturday.

Gopeshwar: (PTI) About 200 pilgrims visited the Hemkund Sahib in Garhwal Himalayas on Monday after pilgrimage to the famous Sikh shrine resumed last Saturday.

Pilgrimage was suspended for over three months in the wake of the mid-June calamity in Uttarakhand.

Over one thousand pilgrims have visited the shrine in two days after its portals were reopened on Sunday morning, chief of the shrine`s management committee Seva Singh said.

The pedestrian route to the shrine from Govindghat has been repaired and mule operators have resumed services for convenience of pilgrims, he said.

The yatra will go on till October 10 when the portals of the shrine are scheduled to be closed for winter, Singh said.

A difficult trek from Govindghat, 20 km beyond Joshimath, leads to Hemkund Sahib located at a height of 15,200 feet.

The mid-June flash floods had wreaked havoc on the shrine`s route, damaging large stretches of road and sweeping away two big bridges between Ghangharia and Govindghat.

PTI

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