China caps Indian pilgrims to Kailash via Nepal at 24,000. Tour operators expect more visitors

Chinese authorities have capped the number of Indian pilgrims allowed to travel to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet via Nepal at 24,000 for the current season, despite demand exceeding 40,000. This quota represents an increase from last year's 20,000, with tour operators also anticipating around 5,000 foreign passport holders joining the pilgrimage. The Kailash Mansarovar yatra season typically runs from mid-May to September.

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Inquiries are growing rapidly. We have requested the Chinese authorities to allow an additional quota of 15,000, and they appear positive.

Tour operators are actively requesting Chinese authorities to increase the quota by an additional 15,000, citing rapidly growing inquiries. The significant surge in demand is largely attributed to the current Chinese Year of the Horse, which began on February 17, 2026. In Tibetan astrology, the Horse Year is considered highly auspicious for the pilgrimage, with devotees believing that completing one circumambulation around Mount Kailash during this period offers spiritual merit equivalent to completing 12 or 13 koras in an ordinary year.

The three-day trek around Mount Kailash, known as the Kailash Kora or parikrama, is physically demanding and takes pilgrims through high-altitude terrain in Tibet. The pilgrimage for Indian citizens resumed last year after a five-year suspension linked to diplomatic tensions between China and India. While India facilitates the yatra through the Lipulekh Pass and Nathu La Pass, its annual cap is limited to 1,000 people, making the Nepal route the preferred option for most Indian pilgrims.

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This route has benefited the entire tourism sector here. We are preparing to welcome guests again with improved food and accommodation facilities.

Nepal offers four routes to Kailash: Tatopani (currently closed), Rasuwagadhi, Hilsa, and the Kathmandu-Lhasa air route. The closure of the Tatopani border crossing after the 2015 earthquake led to a shift in traffic towards the Hilsa route in Humla. This change has significantly boosted economic activity in the remote Karnali region, benefiting the local tourism sector with increased business for hotels and lodges. The influx of pilgrims generates jobs as porters and guides, and expands markets for local produce like apples and walnuts, encouraging commercial farming.

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People are working as porters, guides and hotel staff. Local products such as apples, walnuts, beans and buckwheat now have a market, and farmers are increasingly shifting towards commercial vegetable farming.