In Manasarovar, Chinese Lend A Helping Hand To Indian Pilgrims

Well-equipped reception centres greet yatris on the arduous trek in Tibet

- Radhika Santhanam

For Indian pilgrims on the difficult trek to the high altitude Kailash Manasarovar, the Hindu holy site in Tibet, things might have just got easier from this year.

Accommodation facilities, called reception centres, have been built at various points of the pilgrimage, thanks to an initiative by the Chinese government to improve the material comforts of the pilgrims under taking the arduous journey.

The reception centres, each with about 150 beds, have rooms with charging points, a common kitchen and a common washroom, and provide food for the yatris. According to Awang Chering, Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ali Prefecture, all the four new reception centres have similar facilities.

“The Chinese government has spent 36.8 million RMBs ($5.21 million) on building these centres,” he said. While two are open this year, the other two will be open to yatris from 2020.

Jitendra Singh Rautala, 43, a pilgrim from Uttarakhand who has been on the yatra several times, said the new facilities are “great”.