By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand kicks off on Sunday (Apr 19) with the reopening of the portals of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.
For the first time, the entry of non-Hindus into the three temples except Yamunotri has been restricted.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday flagged off the buses bound for the Char Dham shrines from Rishikesh and extended his best wishes for the journey to devotees arriving from different parts of the country.
Among the four holy shrines, the portals of the Kedarnath Temple—located in Rudraprayag district—are scheduled to open on April 22, while those of the Badrinath Temple—located in Chamoli district—will open on April 23.
This year, a ban has been imposed on the entry of non-Hindus into three of the four Char Dham shrines – Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath as non-Hindus will be required to fulfill specific conditions in order to gain entry into these temples.
In contrast, there will be no such restriction in the Yamunotri Temple.
The use of mobile phones and cameras by devotees within the temple complexes of all four Chardham shrines has been strictly prohibited this year.
Flagging off the yatra, the Chief Minister also urged all devotees to maintain exceptional cleanliness at the religious sites.
The Chief Minister noted that several historic initiatives are being undertaken to make the Char Dham Yatra even more accessible, including the recently completed Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, constructed at a cost of approximately ₹12,000 crore.
He expressed confidence that this year’s Char Dham Yatra would surpass all previous records.
Despite frequent disruptions caused by natural calamities, the Char Dham Yatra attracted over 51 lakh devotees last year. This year, too, immense enthusiasm for the Char Dham pilgrimage is evident among devotees; according to official statistics, approximately 1.9 million pilgrims have already registered—both online and offline—for the Yatra.