Amarnath yatra surpasses 5 lakh mark in first forty days; may go up further

Last year, a little over 4.5 lakh pilgrims had prayed and had the darshan of the fully formed natural Shivling or ice-lingam of Lord Shiva at Amarnath. The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) and the J&K government had expected the number of pilgrims this year to exceed those in 2023. The 52-day-long yatra started from both traditional Pahalgam (Anantnag district) and shorter Baltal (Ganderbal district) routes on June 29 and it will conclude on August 19, coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan.

“There are still 12 days to go and already over half a million devotees from across the country and abroad have paid their obeisance at Amarnath. The initial days of the yatra saw a huge daily rush and even today two to three thousand pilgrims arrive at the base camps every day,” said an official of the SASB (SASB) which manages the affairs of the annual event.

After arriving at the basecamps in cars and buses, the pilgrims undertake the arduous journey through the rugged hills to the cave-shrine by foot or on horsebacks. Tight security arrangements continue to be in place for the pilgrimage. While various security forces are providing the pilgrims a robust security cover, the J&K government has, as part of “foolproof arrangement” for the smooth conduct of the event, involved almost its’ all departments and agencies in it. Interestingly, the local Muslims traditionally play an important role in the conduct of the pilgrimage.

Meanwhile, ‘Charri Mubarak’ or the holy mace of Lord Shiva has been kept in Srinagar’s Amareshwar temple for the darshan of devotees and tourists. “It will remain there till August 14 and then will be taken to Amarnath via Anantnag, Mattan, Pahalgam, Sheshnag and Panjtarni (traditional route of the yatra),” said Mahant Deependra Giri, custodian of the holy mace.

He said, “To follow the tradition, the ‘Charri Pujan’ will be held at Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar on August 9, coinciding with ‘Nag-Panchami’ (Shravan Shukla Paksha Panchami) and the same will be streamed live through YouTube at 5 pm”. He added, “The Charri Mubarak will leave for Pahalgam from the Dashnami on August 15. As per the age-old tradition, rituals namely ‘Bhoomi Pujan’, ‘Navgrah Pujan’ and ‘Dhawajarohan’ (flag hoisting) connected with the commencement of annual Chhari Mubarak Swami Amarnathji Yatra shall be performed at Pahalgam on auspicious occasion of ‘Ashad-Purnima’ (Vyas-Purnima).”

Giri will be joined by a group of Sadhus to carry the mace to Amarnath on ‘Shravan-Purnima’.