In 52 Days, Over Half a Million Devotees Paid Obeisance at Amarnath

Srinagar:The annual Amarnath yatra passed off peacefully on Monday with a little over half a million devotees paying obeisance and having the darshan of the fully formed natural Shivling or ice-lingam of Lord Shiva inside the cave-shrine.

This year’s arrivals at the revered place of Hindu worship tucked away in the Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 3,888 metres (12,756 feet) reached a significant milestone, totalling over five million during the 52-day-long pilgrimage, surpassing all records of past eleven years. In 2012, an all-time record number of over 600,000 devotees had visited Amarnath during the yatra period.

The Jammu and Kashmir government and Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) officials said that the traditional rituals including ‘pujan’ were held at the cave-shrine coinciding with Shravan Purnima which, besides various other festivals and rituals, is famous for Raksha Bandhan.

Earlier during the day, Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of Charri Mubarak or the holy mace of Lord Shiva, and a group of sadhus or saffron-clad hermits arrived at Amarnath with it. They were joined by the SASB officials and a small number of other pilgrims in offering ‘pujan’ amid the chanting Vedic hymns.

The Charri Mubarak had left its seat at Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar’s Budshah Chowk area for Pahalgam on August 15. After being taken to various temples and rituals held en-route, it stayed at Pahalgam for two days during which, as per the age-old tradition, rituals namely ‘Bhoomi Pujan’, ‘Navgrah Pujan’ and ‘Dhawajarohan’ (flag hoisting) connected with the commencement of annual yatra were performed coinciding with auspicious occasion of ‘Ashad-Purnima’ (Vyas-Purnima), Mahant Giri said.

On their return to Pahalgam, Mahant Giri and the sadhus accompanying him will perform ‘Pujan’ and ‘Visarjan’, the last rituals associated with the yatra, on the banks of gushing Lidder at Kashmir’s premier resort 90-km south of capital Srinagar. With that this year’s yatra will be officially declared closed. On the same evening, traditional Kari Pakuri Bhandara for the sadhus will be held at Pahalgam, the SASB officials said.

The yatra began on June 29 simultaneously from both traditional Pahalgam and shorter Baltal routes in southern Anantnag and northern Ganderbal districts of the Kashmir Valley, respectively.

Tight security arrangements were made for the pilgrimage. While various security forces provided the pilgrims a robust security cover, the J&K government, as part of “foolproof arrangement” for the smooth conduct of the event, involved almost its’ all departments and agencies in it. Following the age-old tradition, the local Muslims played an important role in the conduct of the pilgrimage.

Meanwhile, hundreds of devotees on Monday paid obeisance at the Jyeshtaeshwara temple on the hill of Shankaracharya overlooking Srinagar’s famed Dal Lake on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.