By Admin 
The much awaited Chardham Yatra of Uttarakhand will start on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on 19 April 2026 this year. The state government has intensified preparations for the yatra and the registration process for the devotees has also been started from March 6. By 5 pm on the very first day, 1,24,089 pilgrims had registered themselves for the Chardham Yatra, due to which a record number of devotees are expected to arrive this year too.
Giving information, State Tourism, Endowment and Culture Minister Satpal Maharaj said that Chardham Yatra has special spiritual significance in Hindu religion. Every year lakhs of devotees visit Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath Dham to get spiritual benefits. He told that due to safe and easy travel management, more than 56 lakh 31 thousand devotees had visited Chardham in the year 2025. Keeping this experience in mind, this year also special arrangements have been made to make the yatra organized and safe.
According to Minister Satpal Maharaj, this time under the Chardham Yatra, the doors of Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham will traditionally be opened on Akshaya Tritiya i.e. 19th April. Whereas the doors of Kedarnath Dham will be opened for devotees on 22nd April and the doors of Badrinath Dham will be opened for devotees on 23rd April. Preparations of all departments are in the final stages to conduct the Yatra smoothly.
He said that for the convenience of the passengers, both online and offline registration arrangements have been made. A total of 50 counters have been set up for offline registration, out of which 30 counters have been set up in Rishikesh and 20 counters in Vikasnagar. All these counters will operate 24 hours, so that passengers do not face any kind of problem. The facility of offline registration will be started from 17th April 2026, two days before the doors open.
Devotees can register themselves through the official website of the Tourism Department and “Tourist Care Uttarakhand” mobile app. Apart from this, the facility of registration has also been provided through Aadhar card. Arrangements for registration through e-mail ID have been made for foreign devotees. For those devotees who do not have Aadhaar card available, registration centers have been set up at Rishikesh Transit Camp, Rishikul Ground in Haridwar and Vikas Nagar, Dehradun.
Instructions have been given to repair alternative routes
Keeping in mind the convenience of the devotees during the yatra, adequate arrangements have been made for public toilets, drinking water and medical facilities on the routes. Along with this, instructions have also been given to repair the main and alternative routes. To make the journey safe and orderly, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will also be issued as per the standards.
A total of 1800 buses will be operated in Chardham Yatra.
Special preparations have also been made regarding transportation arrangements. This time a total of 1800 buses will be operated in the Chardham Yatra, out of which 400 buses will be kept in reserve. About 130 buses will leave daily carrying passengers and will operate on about 1300 routes in the 10-day travel period.
22,340 devotees registered for Yamunotri Dham till 5 pm
Till 5 pm on the first day of registration, 22,340 devotees registered themselves for Yamunotri Dham, 22,764 for Gangotri Dham, 42,405 for Kedarnath Dham and 36,580 for Badrinath Dham. It is clear from this that this year also there is huge enthusiasm among the devotees regarding Chardham Yatra.