Before the upcoming Chardham Yatra in Uttarakhand, preparations are being made to increase the special puja fees at Badrinath Dham and Kedarnath Dham. A proposal in this regard will be placed in the board meeting of Badri-Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC). The final decision will be taken after discussing the proposal in the meeting.

Every year a large number of devotees reach Badrinath and Kedarnath Dham for darshan. No fee is charged for general darshan. Though the fee charged for special puja is already fixed by BKTC but now the fee for this puja may be increased.

Special puja fee in Kedarnath Dham

Till now, a fee of up to Rs 7,200 is charged from five devotees for Rudrabhishek puja in Kedarnath Dham. The fee fixed for Abhishek Puja is Rs 9,500, for Laghu Rudrabhishek Puja it is Rs 6,100, and for Shodashopachar Puja it is Rs 5,500. For Ashtopachar Puja, a fee of Rs 950 is charged from five devotees. Whereas for the whole day’s worship, Rs 28,600 is fixed.

Fee fixed for worship in Badrinath Dham

Similarly, the fee for special puja in Badrinath Dham is already fixed. At Badrinath Dham, a fee of Rs 4,700 is charged per devotee for Mahabhishek puja and Rs 4,500 for Abhishek puja. The fee for full day puja is Rs 12,000 and for Srimad Bhagwat recitation is Rs 51,000.

BKTC has now prepared to increase the fee for this special puja. Soon a proposal will be presented by the committee in the board meeting. After which this proposal will be considered in the board meeting. If there is agreement on this. The decision to increase the fees for special puja may be approved during the upcoming yatra. However, general darshan arrangements will remain free as before.

Let us tell you that this year Chardham Yatra is starting from 19th April. The doors of Gangotri and Yamunotri will open first. After this, the doors of Kedarnath will open on 22nd April and Badrinath Dham will open on 24th April.

Chandra Grahan 2026: As soon as the Sutak period begins, the doors of Hanuman Setu temple of Lucknow are closed, this appeal was made to the devotees.

Preparations for Chardham Yatra have intensified in Uttarakhand. In the same sequence, a detailed review meeting regarding Chardham Yatra 2026 was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan in which officials of dozens of departments sat under one roof and brainstormed on issues like health, cleanliness and electricity on the yatra route so that the devotees do not face any problem.

The condition of health facilities on the Kedarnath-Badrinath route during the Chardham Yatra has always been a matter of concern. It is not uncommon for heart patients or the elderly to deteriorate while traveling at high altitude. In such a situation, the Chief Secretary gave direct instructions to Health Secretary Sachin Kurve that all the hospitals on the Yatra route should be fully functional before the commencement of the Yatra.

Special preparations for traffic jam

The Chief Secretary said that uninterrupted and balanced power supply should be ensured on the yatra route. At the same time, better arrangements have also been made regarding the traffic system. Lakhs of devotees from across the country reach Uttarakhand for Char Dham Yatra, hence traffic jam is a big problem. This time, the disaster management and police departments have been instructed to immediately inform the passengers through WhatsApp alert wherever there is a jam, crowd or any emergency on the travel route.

If the journey has to be stopped due to bad weather or any accident, then the responsibility of when and where the decision will be taken has been handed over to the Commissioner Garhwal Division. Along with this, instructions have been given to keep machines, equipment and necessary resources deployed in advance on the travel route. Instructions have been given for registration, treatment of animals on the given route and proper management in case of any untoward incident.

Instructions for installing QR code and signage

This time during the Chardham Yatra, there will be a new initiative on the technology front. QR codes will be installed at major religious and halting places, after scanning which the traveler will get complete information about that place on his mobile. Apart from this, clear signage will be installed on the way so that even a first-time traveler does not get lost. A standard procedure i.e. SOP will also be issued for conducting the journey.

In this meeting, Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Additional Director General of Police Dr. V. Murugesan, Commissioner Garhwal Vinay Shankar Pandey and officials of all departments including Health, Police, Public Works, Drinking Water, Transport, Tourism, Electricity and ITDA were present.

‘Muzaffarnagar was burning and father and son were in Saifai…’, Om Prakash Rajbhar’s sharp attack on Akhilesh Yadav