India's Himalayan region has a number of revered Hindu shrines and they attract millions of pilgrims every year. The region has witnessed several natural disasters over the years, killing thousands. Environmentalists say a balanced approach is needed to protect centuries-old traditions and also the Himalayas. The BBC's Sharanya Hrishikesh reports.

In 2021, while inaugurating a slew of projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that more tourists would visit the northern state of Uttarakhand over the next decade than in the past 100 years.

Much of this, he said, could be attributed to a major infrastructure push by the federal and state governments - both led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has a huge support base among India's majority Hindu community - to improve connectivity to famous pilgrimage spots in Uttarakhand. 

The mountainous state, where several Himalayan peaks and glaciers are located, is home to some of the holiest sites for Hindus, including the temple towns of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri which are part of the Himalayan Char Dham Yatra (Four Pilgrimages).

There are many other revered sites in the Himalayan region, including the Amarnath cave shrine and Vaishno Devi temple in Indian-administered Kashmir.

For centuries, the faithful have braved the biting cold and treacherous mountainous paths to pray at these shrines, some of which are only open for a few months in the year.