Kedarnath Dham, one of the auspicious Chardhams in the Chota Chardham circuit is thronged by numerous pilgrims each year during the Chardham Yatra season. Kedarnath Dham is an abode of Lord Shiva in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district. The Kedarnath road route commences from Haridwar and then passes through Rishikesh to move towards Devprayag and then to Srinagar and then again to Rudraprayag and finally to the Kedarnath base camp, Gouri Kund. One has to trek a distance of about 14kms to reach the Kedarnath temple from the Gouri Kund base camp.

The 2013 Flash Floods have brought significant damage to the trek route from Gouri kund. As an alternative, another trek route is being constructed. It will be a 21kms long route starting from Sitapur or Sonaprayag. The best option to make a Kedarnath Yatra right now is the Helicopter Kedarnath Yatra. There are many companies/helicopter service providers who organize a Helicopter Kedarnath journey to save you from the hassles of a difficult route.

The key advantages of Kedarnath Dham helicopter Yatra are–

• Less time consuming Yatra
• Comfortable Yatra
• No tough leg work involved
• One gets to witness breath-taking mountainous views

Some of the major service providers for Kedarnath Yatra are:

Pawan Hans Ltd

Pawan Hans Ltd offers its helicopter services from Agastyamuni & Phata. The company offers its services through the advanced 5-seater Bell 206L4/Bell 407 helicopters and is well known for offering its passengers with the safest and the most comfortable journey to Kedarnath.

The normal fare charged is INR 7000 + Tax. Pilgrims in this Yatra package have the privilege to opt for priority Darshan and in that case the fare reaches to INR 11, 00. In the priority Darshan package pilgrims are allowed a Darshan spanning to an exclusive 1 hr 30 minutes

Pravatam Aviation PVT Ltd

Pravatam Aviation PVT LTD, another famed company offering helicopter services to Kedarnath comes up with 3 major Yatra packages, namely-

1. Phata-Kedarnath shrine
2. Dehradun-Kedarnath shrine-Dehradun
3. Delhi-Kedarnath shrine-Delhi

The fare for the first Yatra package is INR7700 Per head. The fare for 2^nd package is 2.25 lacs along with 12.36 percent tax for four heads. This fare is for a single day package and if pilgrims wish to stay there beyond a single day then an added tariff of INR 20, 000 will be charged against an additional night. The fare for third package is 4 lacs for 4 heads. For this package too service tax and all extra charges are applied.

Heritage Aviation

Heritage Aviation, the third company offers pilgrims with Kedarnath helicopter yatra services on a regular basis. This company’s helipad is quite accessible as it is located on NH109. Heritage Aviation offers pilgrims with both one way as well as two way aviation services.

1. Guptakashi-Kedarnath
2. Kedarnath-Guptakashi
3. Guptakashi-Kedarnath-Guptakashi

The package fares are INR 4500 for the first package, INR 3500 for second package and INR7700 for the third package. An additional INR 1100 is charged if pilgrims avail priority Darshan service. Priority Darshan facility is available only to the Helicopter Yatris. This privilege adds to the worth of the Kedarnath helicopter Yatra.

Apart from the above three helicopter service providers, there are many others. These helicopter Yatra companies offer helicopter Yatra service to all the destinations of Chardhams and not to the Kedarnath Dham alone.