Tourism dept exploring alternative route for Kailash from within Indian Territory
Friday, 30 June 2023 | Prem Prakash Upadhyay | PITHORAGARH
Uttarakhand Tourism department has now been exploring the possibility of the pilgrims having darshan of the sacred Kailash peak located in Tibet from inside the Indian Territory from the western side of Lipulekh Pass located in Pithoragarh district which is considered as the gateway to Tibet.
Speaking of the matter, the sub-divisional magistrate Dharchula, Devesh Shashani said, “A joint team of tourism department officials, adventure tourism experts and officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) went to the old Lipulekh peak to ascertain the feasibility of the place being developed as a religious tourist destination,” he said.
He further said that as directed by the secretary, Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand, a team comprising four officials from the Tourism department had visited the old Lipulekh Pass on June 21.
“We are exploring the option of enabling the pilgrims to have Kailash darshan from Old Lipulekh Pass Shikhar as an alternative to Kailash Yatra. Exploring such options is an imperative now with Chinese authorities not allowing travellors/pilgrims since 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic,” he said and added that the peak of Old Lipulekh Pass is 19,000 feet in altitude situated at a steep climb of about 2000 meters from Lipulekh Pass.
The tourism officials say that the possibilities of visiting Kailash from that point within the Indian territory have brightened up with the BRO having constructed a road up to the base of the peak.
The local villagers of Beas Valley say that earlier, some pilgrims who could not cross over to Tibet would visit the holy peak from the old Lipulekh pass peak. “The only challenges are the strong winds blowing there and the four sharp turns on the way to the peak,” said a villager from Rongkong village in Beas Valley Bhupal Singh Ronkali who claimed to have visited the peak several times. Pilgrimage to Mount Kailash is considered endowed with immense spiritual significance for the followers of four faiths- Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh.
