Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 2: Governor, N N Vohra, who is also the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the annual Swami Amarnath yatra paid obeisance at the holy cave situated at an altitude of 3,880 metres and housing the naturally formed Ice-Shiv Lingam early this morning. With this, the 48 days long annual Amarnath yatra started this morning.
The Governor reached the holy cave at 5-45 am to perform Pooja and pay obeisance there, official sources said. On the first day of yatra 8,916 pilgrims performed darshan at holy cave today from shortest Baltal as well as the longest Nunwan-Pahalgam tracks despite intermittent rains at holy cave and yatra routes during the day.
The weather remained cloudy at holy cave and both the hilly tracks as the Metrological Department had already made the predictions of the rains in the area but the yatra was not hampered and it proceeded smoothly.
Amid a multi-tier security ring, comprising police, CRPF, BSF and Army, the yatra commenced from the twin routes – 42-km traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district in South Kashmir and shorter 12-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district of Central Kashmir – as per schedule this morning.
The Baltal route is preferred by pilgrims who want to complete the yatra in a day’s time.
As many as 12,577 pilgrims left the base camps at Nunwan along Pahalgam route and Baltal in the wee hours today chanting religious slogans and by this evening, 8916 pilgrims offered their prayers to the Shiv Lingam at the cave shrine, the officials said.
They said while 7,486 pilgrims, including 1,130 women, 71 children and 18 Sadhus, left Baltal before dawn, the first batch comprising 5,091 pilgrims including dozens of Sadhus left Nunwan to offer their prayers at the cave shrine.
The authorities have made unprecedented security arrangements to foil any bid to sabotage the yatra and to ensure peaceful pilgrimage, the officials said.
They said special rescue teams have also been deployed at vulnerable spots along the tracks to meet any eventuality.
Meanwhile, a 53-year-old pilgrim from Delhi was found dead inside a camp at Dumail in Baltal area this morning.
The pilgrim, Vinod Kumar, had reached the Baltal base camp yesterday to join the first batch of pilgrims to offer prayers at the cave shrine but had apparently suffered heart attack and died, the officials said.
The yatra is scheduled to end on August 18, coinciding with ‘Shravan Purnima’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’ festivals.
A fresh batch of 1214 pilgrims left for holy cave from Jammu Yatri Niwas at Bhagwati Nagar amid tight security arrangements early this morning in a cavalcade of 33 vehicles.
The cavalcade of vehicles carrying the yatris had crossed the Jawahar Tunnel by the evening and they were on the way to their respective destinations.
Earlier, after his visit to the Shrine, the Governor reviewed the arrangements made for the pilgrims at the Yatra Shrine Camp and conveyed the Shrine Board’s thanks to the State Government, Army, Central Armed Police Forces, State Police and all the other concerned agencies for their support and cooperation.
He stressed the need for effective supervision and round the clock monitoring by the camp directors and all the functionaries involved in the management of the Yatra for ensuring smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, P.K Tripathi, CEO of the Shrine Board has once again appealed to the intending Shri Amarnathji Yatris to embark on the pilgrimage only after getting medically checked and obtaining a valid Yatra Permit. This would ensure against any avoidable inconvenience to them.
The CEO said that the Board has also issued a detailed Advisory of Do’s and Dont’s for the Yatris visiting the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnathji. The Yatris need to strictly adhere to these Do’s and Don’ts as they have to undertake an arduous trek through high mountain ranges under adverse weather conditions.
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