Hemkund Sahib, a major Sikh pilgrimage site in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, will close for the winter season on 10 October. According to Amar Ujala’s 2 October report, the year’s final ardas will be offered that day before the shrine closes. The pilgrimage is now nearing its end, and the number of devotees arriving to pay their respects before the closure has increased.
Sewa Singh, manager of the Hemkund Sahib Management Trust, said the gurdwara management had completed all preparations for the closure. According to him, more than 3.58 lakh pilgrims have paid their respects at Hemkund Sahib this pilgrimage season, surpassing the records of all previous years.
The shrine opened on 23 May
This year’s Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage began with the customary rituals on 23 May. Trust president Narendra Jeet Singh Bindra had announced the closing date on 10 August. By then, more than 2.38 lakh pilgrims from India and abroad had visited the shrine. Bindra had asked devotees to complete their journeys before the specified date. He also thanked the Uttarakhand government, district administration, police, security forces, Army, volunteers and the congregation for their support during the pilgrimage.
Comparing the two figures shows that approximately 1.2 lakh more pilgrims visited Hemkund Sahib between 10 August and early October, a period of about seven weeks.
Hemkund Sahib is more than 15,000 feet above sea level. The gurdwara stands amid seven snow-covered peaks and a glacial lake, and devotees must climb a mountain trail on foot to reach it. In August, the trust had said that many kinds of flowers were blooming in the valley, including the rare Brahma Kamal found in the high Himalayan regions.
The area experiences heavy snowfall and extremely harsh weather in winter, making travel along the pilgrimage route unsafe. For this reason, the shrine closes every October, and the pilgrimage resumes the following summer when the weather improves. Devotees wishing to visit during this season have until 10 October.
Photo: Japleenpasricha / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
