Mansarovar pilgrims return to Kathgodam

HALDWANI: The first batch of 54 pilgrims, who left for Kailash Mansarovar yatra from New Delhi on 12 June, returned on Sunday to Kathgodam in Nainital district.

The managing director and general manager of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, the nodal agency for the yatra, welcomed the pilgrims.

“The hospitality of the IndoTibetan Border Police was very good. Facilities on the Chinese territory were not good; we faced problems of water shortage and washroom facilities,” said Manju from Delhi who undertook the yatra. “Chinese authorities treated us as tourists, not as religious pilgrims.”

The pilgrims expressed their joy over visiting Mansarovar lake and Mount Kailash, believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva. The sixth group of 58 yatris reached Kathgodam on Sunday for their onward pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar. Every year, close to 1080 pilgrims go for the yatra in batches is. Surendra Singh Jeena, BJP MLA from Sult, has left for the yatra in the third batch.

The pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, considered holy by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, takes place from June to September every year.

The Mansarovar yatra through Nathu La in Sikkim was cancelled after a face-off between Indian and Chinese troops road construction on the borders of a plateau in Bhutan.

Eight batches, each comprising about 50 pilgrims, were scheduled to have taken the Nathu La route to Mansarovar in present-day Tibet.

The pilgrims returned to Gangtok on June 23 after staying in Nathu La for three days awaiting permission from the Chinese side for the onward journey.