New Delhi : New route to Kailash Mansarovar, the most sacred place outside India for Hindus, will be thrown open this year with 250 pilgrims to be taken for darshan of Mount Kailash and pristine Mansarovar lake in Tibet. A formal announcement of opening of the route is expected soon, sources said.
The new route, which is not as challenging as the traditional one from Uttarakhand side, will reduce the hardship and journey time enabling many more pilgrims, in particular aged pilgrims, to undertake the Yatra.
To begin with, five batches of 50 pilgrims each would be taken from new route.
China had agreed to open the new route for the Yatra during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit in September, 2014. India and China had signed a bilateral agreement on the Nathula alternative route September 18 this year. The agreement provides for conducting the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nathula in addition to the existing Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand. The new route will allow pilgrims to be driven all along. The first leg of the pilgrimage from Delhi to Bagdogra in West Bengal will be covered by air. (AGENCIES)
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