Kailash Mansarovar Pilgrimage from June 20: 500 devotees will start the journey in 10 batches from Nathula Pass in Sikkim.

Kalimpong (West Bengal), June 13. The much-awaited pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar is going to begin from June 20 and the devotees will start their journey via Nathula Pass in Sikkim. This year, a total of 500 pilgrims will travel through Nathula Pass in 10 batches. There will be 50 pilgrims in each batch. Each group will also be accompanied by a liaison officer and a medical assistant.

Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) Chairman Lokendra Rasai said on Saturday that the official process for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via Nathula Pass in Sikkim has started on June 11. The first batch of pilgrims will reach Sikkim on the evening of June 15. After this the pilgrims will have to go through a difficult process to acclimatise their bodies to the altitude.

rigorous physical preparation

On June 16, the pilgrims will be taken to an acclimatization center at the 18th mile, where they will stay for two days. Subsequently, on June 18 and 19, they will be taken to the second acclimatization center at Tsomgo (Changu) Lake. Only after all the physical preparations are completed, the first batch will be officially dispatched for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra on June 20.

Selection of pilgrims through lottery

It is expected that around 500 pilgrims will participate in the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra this year. STDC Chairman Lokendra Rasaili said, ‘Around 1,500 people had applied for this pilgrimage. Of them, 500 were selected through a lottery system. This pilgrimage will be done in 10 batches between June 20 and August 24. Each batch will return after completing a journey of approximately 12 days in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

The journey was stopped in 2020 due to Covid-19

It is noteworthy that Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was stopped in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic. Even after five years had passed, the pilgrimage could not be resumed. In the last few years, the future of the pilgrimage was not certain due to border tensions between India and China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.