Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 2: Uttarakhand tragedy, disturbances in Jammu region in the aftermath of Kishtwar violence, unabated tensions on the Line of Control (LoC) and now twin terror attacks at Samba and Hiranagar have cast their shadow on the pilgrimage of holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji, which has gone down by 9.37 lakh during first nine months of the current year as compared to last year.
Official sources told the Excelsior that 73.07 lakh pilgrims have visited Mata Vaishno Devi shrine up to September 30 this year as compared to 82.44 lakh during the same period last year. The pilgrimage was almost at par with the last year during first six months of the year but it went down in the next three months mainly after Uttarakhand tragedy in June followed by curfew in most parts of Jammu region after August 9 violence in Kishtwar and escalated tensions on the LoC the same month and now the fidayeen attacks at Samba and Hiranagar in which 10 persons were killed.
Pilgrimage went down by nearly four lakh in the month of July soon after Uttarakhand tragedy and by over two lakh in the month of August. Though on an average, 25,000 pilgrims were visiting the shrine daily, it was expected to pick up during Navratras. However, the last quarter of the year generally witnessed less yatra to the cave shrine as compared to second and third quarters.
Going by the shortfall of over nine lakh, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) authorities were anticipating that the yatra to the shrine this year might not reach one crore like the previous two years of 2011 and 2012.
During 2011, the pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, located in Trikuta Hills of Katra in Reasi district at a height of 5200 feet from sea level, had, for the first time, crossed the figure of 10 million and stood at 1.01 crore. In 2012, the yatra went up to 1.04 crore.
During first six months of 2013, the trends indicated that pilgrimage would touch 10 million again but it seemed unlikely now.
After all time high yatra in a month to the shrine (12.68 lakh in June) this year, which was 52,000 more than the pilgrimage recorded in the same month last year, it went down considerably in the month of July when only 8.46 lakh devotees visited Vaishno Devi Bhawan as compared to 12.01 lakh last year.
In August, the yatra recorded further decline with 8.46 lakh pilgrims visited the holy shrine as against 9.84 lakh of last year while in just ended September 7.66 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance to the Goddess as against 8.77 lakh of last year.
“Even if the pilgrimage picked up during remaining three months of this year, it wouldn’t be able to touch 10 million,” sources said.
Pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi was 13.95 lakh in 1986 when Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) had taken over affairs of the shrine. Since then, the yatra continued to go up every year creating new records.
It was for the first time in 1991 that the pilgrimage crossed 3 million (31.15 lakh). The 4 million mark was reached in 1996 while the yatra reached 50 lakh in 2000 and 60 lakh in 2004. It was in 2007 that the yatra stood at 74.17 lakh.
The pilgrimage came down to 67.92 lakh in 2008 due to two months long Amarnath land agitation but again went up to 82 lakh in 2009 and reached 87.2 lakh in 2010. It was for the first time in 2011 that the yatra crossed 10 million mark and stood at 1.01 crore.
Police parties headed by SP Katra Pawan Parihar have made elaborate security arrangements for the yatra.
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