Nepali tourism entrepreneurs say Beijing has fixed a quota of 24,000 Indian pilgrims allowed to travel to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet via Nepal this season, even as demand has already crossed 40,000.

Last year, the quota for Indian pilgrims was 20,000.

Tour operators also estimate that the number of foreign passport holders joining the pilgrimage could reach 5,000 this year. The Kailash Mansarovar yatra season typically runs from mid-May to September.

“Inquiries are growing rapidly. We have requested the Chinese authorities to allow an additional quota of 15,000, and they appear positive,” said Basu Adhikari, managing director of Touch Kailash Travel and Treks.

According to Adhikari, the surge in demand is largely driven by the Chinese Year of the Horse, which began on February 17, 2026. In Tibetan astrology and religious tradition, the Horse Year is considered highly auspicious for the pilgrimage. Devotees believe that completing one kora—the 52-kilometre circumambulation around Mount Kailash—during the Horse Year brings 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 resumed for Indian citizens last year after Beijing and New Delhi agreed to restore the yatra following a five-year suspension linked to diplomatic tensions.

Although India facilitates the Kailash Mansarovar yatra through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and the Nathu La Pass in Sikkim, the Indian government caps the annual pilgrimage at 1,000 people—500 through each route.

As a result, most Indian pilgrims prefer travelling privately through Nepal.

There are currently four routes to Kailash through Nepal: Tatopani, Rasuwagadhi, Hilsa and the Kathmandu-Lhasa air route. Tatopani remains closed.

Before the 2015 earthquake, most Indian pilgrims used the Tatopani border crossing. After its closure, traffic shifted to the Hilsa route in Humla, significantly boosting economic activity in the remote Karnali region.

“This route has benefited the entire tourism sector here,” said Bijay Lama, a hotelier in Simkot. “We are preparing to welcome guests again with improved food and accommodation facilities.” There are currently around seven hotels in Hilsa and fifteen in Simkot, along with dozens of smaller lodges catering mainly to Indian pilgrims.

Business leaders say the influx has generated jobs and expanded markets for local produce.

“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,” said Ram Bahadur Bhandari, chair of the Humla Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to Adhikari, most Indian pilgrims currently travel through the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung route.

Chinese authorities briefly closed the crossing for three days recently, but departures have resumed.

More than 1,200 Indian pilgrims are scheduled to leave through the route between Thursday and Saturday under a 10-day itinerary.

Operators say rising fuel and food prices have made pilgrimage packages more expensive this year.

The 10-day Rasuwagadhi-Kerung package now costs around $1,700 per person, up from $1,500 last year.

The Nepalgunj-Simkot-Hilsa way, considered the shortest route to Kailash, now costs $1,550 for an eight-day package, compared to $1,300 previously.

Pilgrims on the Hilsa route fly from Nepalgunj to Simkot on small aircraft before taking helicopters to Hilsa near the Nepal-China border. From there, jeeps transport them into Tibet and onward to Taklakot, also known as Purang.

A helicopter can make up to 15 trips daily, but with only four passengers per flight, operational costs remain high.

Tour operators describe the Kailash Mansarovar yatra as one of the most profitable pilgrimage packages for Nepali travel companies. The annual season provides a major boost to hotels, airlines, restaurants, guides and porters while also contributing significant tax revenue to the government.

Hotels in Nepalgunj are also witnessing a rise in bookings as the pilgrimage season gains momentum. Tourism entrepreneurs say the growing number of Indian visitors has encouraged investment in hospitality infrastructure across Banke district.

“Bookings are steadily increasing,” said Keshav Neupane, regional executive director of Siddhartha Business Group of Hospitality. “The reopening of the pilgrimage after the pandemic has brought relief to the tourism sector.”

The Kathmandu-Lhasa air package costs around $5,000 per person.

The pilgrimage route via Nepal remains closely tied to India-China relations.

Although China reopened its borders to tourists and Nepalis in 2023, it continued restricting Indian pilgrims because of lingering tensions following the 2017 Doklam standoff.

In 2023, nearly 50,000 Indian pilgrims booked Kailash Mansarovar trips through Nepal after the Covid crisis eased, but Chinese authorities denied them entry while allowing pilgrims from other countries. Diplomatic engagement between India and China resumed in late 2024.

Nepali tour operators say that Beijing has started to fix quota for Indian pilgrims in 2024.

In November 2024, during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed measures to restore the pilgrimage and resume direct flights.

A follow-up meeting was later held in Beijing between Wang Yi and India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

Mount Kailash is revered in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Hindus believe it to be the mythical abode of Lord Shiva, and devotees consider the kora around the mountain one of the holiest spiritual journeys. Pilgrims once took ritual baths directly in Lake Manasarovar, although bathing in the lake has been prohibited since 2018. Visitors are still allowed to collect water for religious purposes.

According to Nepali travel traders, more than 20,000 Indian pilgrims travelled to Kailash Mansarovar through Nepal in 2018, and the number rose to nearly 30,000 in 2019 before China closed its borders during the Covid pandemic in January 2020.

With the routes reopened, Nepali operators say bookings have once again surged, although travellers still face strict Chinese travel regulations and logistical hurdles.