Kathmandu, May 17: With the onset of the monsoon season, the number of Indian religious tourists traveling to visit Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar has started increasing in Simkot.
Since the tourism season began, pilgrims have started arriving via air from Nepalgunj to the district headquarters Simkot, and then traveling onward through Hilsa to China for the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. Within just four days of the start of arrivals, a total of 169 tourists have reached Simkot.
According to Simkot Airport Chief Mahendra Singh, 169 pilgrims traveling to Kailash Mansarovar via Humla have arrived at Simkot Airport.
He said that among the travelers who started arriving from Baisakh 30, 147 were Indian pilgrims and 22 were from other countries over the four-day period.
Despite unfavorable weather conditions, 47 pilgrims arrived in Simkot on Saturday alone aboard three flights operated by Summit Air. Among them, 23 pilgrims were forced to stay in Simkot because they had not yet received permits to travel to Kailash Mansarovar.
As per a Cabinet decision made on Chaitra 21, Saturday and Sunday were public holidays, which delayed the issuance of permits. As a result, the 23 Indian pilgrims have had to remain in Simkot.
Looking at the number of Indian religious tourists arriving within just four days since the pilgrimage season started, authorities are optimistic that the figure will continue to rise.
Indian tourists had started entering through the Hilsa border point after the devastating earthquake of 2015 (2072 BS). However, tourist arrivals stopped during the COVID period when the Hilsa border was closed.
Since China resumed allowing Indian tourists to travel to Kailash Mansarovar via Hilsa from last year, a total of 6,500 Indian pilgrims completed the religious journey over a four-month period last year.
This year, the first batch of pilgrims arrived in Simkot on Baisakh 30.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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