GANGTOK, :The Ministry of External
Affairs has announced that Kailash-ManasarovarYatra, which resumes this year
after a five-year hiatus,will take place from June to August.
In a statement released on
Saturday,the MEA said that both pilgrimage routes – via Lipulekh Pass through
Dharchula in Uttarakhand and via Nathu La Pass in Sikkim – will be reopened.
Sikkim LokSabha MP Indra Hang
Subba today expressed his delight over the resumption of
Kailash-ManasarovarYatra.
“This decision by the Ministry
of External Affairs to facilitate the pilgrimage through Sikkim’s Nathu La Pass
and Uttarakhand’s Lipulekh Pass is a historic and heartening development,” Indra
Hang said in a press release.
Ten batches, with 50 pilgrims
each, will undertake the sacred journey through Sikkim.
“This year, 5 batches, each
consisting of 50 Yatris, and 10 batches, each consisting of 50 Yatris, are
scheduled to travel through Uttarakhand State crossing over at Lipulekh Pass,
and through Sikkim State crossing over at Nathu La Pass, respectively,” the MEA
said.
Pilgrims can apply through the
government portal (kmy.gov.in) with selections being made through a “fair,
computer-generated, random and gender-balanced process.”
Indra Hang expressed hope and
confidence that Sikkim will once again “proudly serve as a gateway for seekers
embarking on this sacred journey.”
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was
suspended in 2020 amid Covid-19 pandemic and a standoff between India and China
along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Sikkim route, which had been opened
to the public in 2015, was closed in 2017.
The first batch of pilgrims is
expected to depart from Delhi on June 30.
