Kedarnath, Uttarakhand – How it revived itself after the devastation

Visit Kedarnath - After the distressing floods, Kedarnath was in the nadirs of desolation as roads and paths leading to the Uttarakhand town were totally demolished. However, reconstruction started soon after the disaster and due to the rapid development work, walkways and roads have been reinstated. Pilgrims henceforth, opt for walkways than motorways.

Before the disaster, the bloc on the primary entrance was a footpath, less than 10 meters wide. It was destroyed as an outcome of the floods and got repressed in debris along with some of the monuments on this path.

 

# Char Dham is a group of four pilgrimage sites in India - Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri

The number of pilgrims visiting the sites in 2018 was staged at 26 lakhs while the numbers are correspondingly inspiring this year. Till August 25, the figure was 28, 04,000 out of which 7,32,000 people registered through photometric registration while 30,000 pilgrims registered through the web. Nearly 26,000 individuals registered through the mobile application.

Being the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the numbers are expected to surge after its formal inauguration. 

If you ask somebody who has recently visited the pilgrimage, he would tell you that the reconstruction work is still under development. The entire place around the temple looks cleaner and more spacious now. Even, the authorities have built a wall beside the temple. 

Due to the unmated efforts of the authorities, there has been a noticeable difference in the overall looks and facilities available for the visitors. 

The footpath has now been rebuilt into stairways as 2,660 local stones have been engraved and placed on it. A superior arrival platform has been constructed as well that allows tourists and international pilgrims to see Kedarnath from a distance if they wish to avert the crowd and uneasiness.

Today, not less than 300 pilgrims can stand right in the temple premises. The confluence of river Saraswati and Mandakini, that was earlier unreachable, has now been unlocked and pilgrims can view Kedar Puri from here too.

Meanwhile, free medical facilities for pilgrims have been in place at base camps in Kedarnath. The Swami Vivekananda hospital was inducted on September 2 by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Featuring 12 beds, the hospital is supposed to treat pilgrims for free and has advanced facilities like X-ray, ventilator, and ICU.

The healthcare department has defined medical relief points (MRP) and warm rooms on the Gaurikund- Kedarnath walkway. At a distance of 17kms, 9 MRPs and warm rooms have been set up and Kedarnath will also get two warm rooms. These rooms will help battle hypothermia (a health condition where the quickly decreasing temperature leads to traumatic breathing) among pilgrims.

 

# The temple complex is reinstated and had hints of the previous settlement 

It is quite common to see demolished and broken structures around the valley. If you’re planning to visit Kedarnath in the near future, you can expect to get world-class facilities today that were not available earlier. And what you experience there, don’t forget to share with us in the comment section below.