Approximately 1,500 devotees are now utilizing the helicopter service for Baba Kedar daily. The preferences of pilgrims have changed over the years. Earlier, they were forced to trek hundreds of kilometres on foot. The introduction of helicopter services for the yatra, initiated over a decade ago, has gained immense popularity.“According to the state tourism department’s Yatra wing, as of Friday, a total of 3,573,554 devotees have already visited the four dhams and Hemkund Sahib this year.”“While 1,149,662 devotees have visited Kedarnath, 9,95,930 have paid homage at Badrinath, 5,87,568 at Yamunotri, 6,73,179 at Gangotri, and 1,67,215 at Hemkund Sahib,” said Pradeep Chauhan, spokesperson for the Char Dham Yatra wing.Compared to last year’s figures, the number of pilgrims has decreased. In the same period the previous year, 39,43,615 devotees undertook the yatra, whereas this year, only 35,54,039 pilgrims reached the sacred sites so far. A decline of 3,89,576 pilgrims is attributed to inclement weather and landslides, which disrupted the yatra for seven days.
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