Chardham Yatra Registration 2027: Complete Guide

Nobody enters any of the four Chardham shrines — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath — without a registration e-pass. It applies to Indian and international travellers alike, it's checked at checkpoints along the route as well as at the temples themselves, and turning up without one gets you turned back, not fined. This is the single most common thing people get wrong before a Chardham trip, so here's exactly how the whole process works, start to finish.

Why registration exists

Mandatory registration was introduced after the 2013 Kedarnath disaster, when a cloudburst and flash flood killed thousands of pilgrims who had no tracking or record at all — nobody knew how many people were on the route or where they were when the water came down. Registration exists to keep a real-time count of how many pilgrims are on each route and at each shrine at any given moment, so that in an emergency, authorities know roughly who's where. It's enforced properly now: ITBP and state police check the QR code at multiple points on the way up, not just at the temple gate, and unregistered pilgrims are turned back rather than waved through.

What it costs

Nothing. Registration is entirely free, run through the Uttarakhand government's own portal and mobile app. If you see a travel agent or tour listing charging a specific "registration fee," that's a fee for the service of filling in the form on your behalf — not for the registration itself, which the government never charges for. It's worth knowing this so you don't overpay someone for something you can do yourself in ten minutes, or feel suspicious of an operator who does it for you as part of a package.

What you need

• Indian nationals: Aadhaar card
• International travellers: passport
• A passport-sized photograph
• An active mobile number, for OTP verification
• An emergency contact name and number

That's the complete list — there's no medical certificate requirement for Chardham registration itself (unlike the Adi Kailash Inner Line Permit, which does require one — see our ILP guide if that's your route instead). The form itself is short: personal details, the dates you plan to visit each shrine, and your emergency contact.

How to register

Registration runs through registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in, the official Uttarakhand tourism portal, or the equivalent official mobile app. You create an account, enter your details and the dates you intend to visit each dham, upload the required documents, and receive a QR-coded e-pass by email or in the app once it's processed. There's also a physical registration counter option at Haridwar and a few other points along the route for anyone who arrives without having registered online, but relying on that in peak season means queuing, and there's no guarantee of same-day slots — register online in advance if you can.

When the portal opens

In recent years the portal has opened in early March ahead of the season, with the temples themselves opening in the last week of April. Expect the same rhythm for the 2027 season: portal live in early March 2027, shrines opening in late April 2027 — though the state government confirms exact dates only a few weeks ahead each year, and there's genuinely no way to know the precise 2027 dates this far out. We'll update this article the moment they're officially announced; message us closer to the season if you want to know as soon as they're out.

Register the day the portal opens if you can. Daily slots at each shrine are capped — this is a direct consequence of the post-2013 crowd-management rules — and peak-season dates, especially the first two to three weeks after the temples open, fill within hours. Waiting even a week after the portal opens can mean your preferred dates are already gone for Kedarnath in particular, which is the most oversubscribed of the four.

How the e-pass actually gets used on the road

Once you're registered, you get a QR-coded e-pass to print — and you genuinely should print it, not just save it to your phone. Mobile network is unreliable above Guptkashi and patchy to non-existent around Kedarnath itself, and a dead phone screen at a checkpost is not a valid permit. Bring at least two or three physical copies per person. The e-pass is checked at police and ITBP checkposts on the route itself, not only at the shrine entrance — expect at least two or three checks between the highway and each temple, more in peak season when authorities are managing crowd flow more actively.

What happens if you lose your e-pass or it's damaged

Keep a digital copy in your email as a backup even though we recommend printing — most checkposts can look up your registration by name and ID if you can show the confirmation email or app screen, even without the printed pass, though it slows things down. This is one more reason to register with a working phone number you'll actually have access to on the route.

Registering for a family or group

Each traveller needs their own registration — you can't register one person and have the rest of a family or group travel under it. The portal does allow you to register multiple people in one session if you're booking as a family, which is worth doing together rather than each person registering separately, since it keeps your documents and dates aligned.

If you're on one of our tours

We handle registration for everyone booked on our Chardham or Do Dham tours. Send your documents the moment you book — the earlier we register you, the better your odds against the slot cap, and we'd rather have your e-pass sorted weeks before departure than scrambling the week of. See our best time for Chardham guide for which window to aim for, our cost breakdown for what else to budget beyond registration, and our full planning guide if you're still working out the shape of the trip.