Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/POONCH, Aug 7: The annual Shri Budha Amarnath Ji Yatra for Mandi town in district Poonch started today and the first batch of 651 pilgrims left for their destination during early morning under tight security from Bhagwati Nagar base camp here.
The first batch of pilgrims in 14 vehicles, was flagged off by Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone, Anand Jain and several senior leaders of Bajrang Dal and VHP from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp at Tawi bank in Jammu.
The ADGP claimed that all the security arrangements have been put in place to ensure an incident-free yatra.
The first batch was received by Swami Vishavatmanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj, Deputy Commissioner Rajouri O P Bhagat, DIG CRPF Himanshu Kumar, SSP Rajouri Randeep Kumar, ADC Sunderbani, Rajiv Magotra, Ex-MLC Ravinder Sharma and others. After breakfast at Sundervani. Yatra was flagged off for Rajouri where, the pilgrims were provided lunch at Cantonment convoy ground and then they left for Poonch and reached in the evening.
District Administration Poonch including Deputy Commissioner- Mohd Yasin, DIG Rajouri-Poonch Tejinder Singh , SSP Yougal Manhas and prominent citizens of the Poonch City including VHP, Bajrang Dal leaders and SD Sabha president- Master Khetarpal received the first batch of the pilgrims at the College Ground. Tomorrow morning, the yatra will leave for the shrine of Shri Budha Amarnath JI at Rajpura in Mandi town.
The Budha Amarnath Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Rajpura village in Poonch is among the oldest shrines in the Jammu region, drawing large numbers of devotees. It is said that Pulast Rishi, the grandfather of the Kind Ravana of Lanka had worshipped at this place for thousands of years.
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