Chennai, June 28, 2013: With nature’s fury destroying pilgrim spots like Badrinath and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, several Hindu devotees are now looking at shrines in Pancha Dwaraka (Gujarat), Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) and Mukthinath (Nepal).

Rajalakshmi Chari, who had booked a trip to Badrinath and missed it due to incessant rains, said she had visited the hill shrine twice already. This time she was to leave Chennai on June 22, but bad weather forced their family to cancel the trip.

“After watching sorrowful shots of how temples got washed away and dead bodies on the hill side I don’t repent missing the trip. Now I’ve changed my plan and would visit Pancha Dwaraka in Gujarat as my friends say there are good temples there,” she said.

J. Ramalakshmi, the 68-year-old who wanted to visit Kedarnath, was seen visibly upset as she couldn’t make it to the abode of Lord Shiva. “We had planned a trip to Kedarnath this September but now we were informed that we need to trek 35 km from the base camp as there is no road connectivity to the temple. It is difficult for me to trek this route so I’ve preferred to cancel the trip and go to Mukthinath in Nepal,” she said.

According to V. Padma, manager, Sree Travels, which operates several package tours to pilgrim spots like Badrinath, Kedarnath and Mukthinath, people can go up to Hardwar and Rishikesh by road – but not beyond that. “Given the present situation, people are asking us for trips to Pancha Dwaraka, Ayodhya and Mukthinath. We have been organising trips round the year to various pilgrimage spots,” she said.

Source: Deccan Chronicle, DT. June 28, 2013.