India resumes ​Kailash Manasarovar Yatra after five years

A view of Mt. Kailash, which is believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva, is in Tibet.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Five years after the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar was suspended, India is all set to launch the yatra again from June this year. The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday (April 26, 2025) invited applications from pilgrims.

​Announcing that the yatra will take place between June and August, the Ministry of External Affairs said as many as 750 pilgrims will be allowed to take part in it.

“This year, 5 batches, each consisting of 50 Yatris, and 10 batches, each consisting of 50 Yatris, are scheduled to travel through Uttarakhand State crossing over at Lipulekh Pass, and through Sikkim State crossing over at Nathu La Pass, respectively, a ministry statement read.

Since the entire process is fully computerised since 2015, pilgrims can register at https://kmy.gov.in. The selection will be through a fair, computer-generated, random and gender-balanced selection process, the ministry said.

The Indian and Chinese officials have been discussing on the resumption of yatra, which was suspended in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, since October 2024 during the border agreement talks.

The yatra remained suspended since 2020 due to tensions at the Line of Actual Control after the Galwan killings.

In an unusual move, the issue was also discussed by the Working Mechanism for Coordination and Consultation (WMCC) on India-China border affairs, which normally focuses on defence and border management issues. “(The two sides) exchanged views on early resumption of cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including on trans-border rivers and Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra,” a press statement issued after the 33rd WMCC meeting on March 25 this year read.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs; the Ministry of Home Affairs; the Indo Tibetan Border Police; the Delhi, Sikkim and Uttarakhand governments; and state agencies, including the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam. The two official routes of the pilgrimage are Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand (since 1981) and the Nathu La Pass (since 2015) in Sikkim.