The annual pilgrimage to Amarnath is picking up momentum as official statistics suggest more than 50,000 devotees have relocated to the 12,729-foot-high cave shrine in Kashmiri Himalayas in first three days of the event. However, the movement of the pilgrims along the tracks had to be halted on several occasions, for varying periods, in view of heavy rains.
Also, the arrival of unregistered pilgrims in large numbers at the base camps is creating impediment in the conduct of a smooth yatra, reports said. Senior officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) have rushed there to ensure no such pilgrim crosses the control gates.
On Wednesday, as many as 20,723 worshippers had darshan of the shivling. Over 13,000 took the shorter Baltal route to reach Amarnath and the rest chose to embark on the arduous journey through the rugged hills from the Pahalgam side.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 3,573 pilgrims, which had left Jammu in the morning, reached the Baltal and Pahalgam base camps in the afternoon and will be allowed to begin their foot journey towards the cave shrine on Thursday morning, officials said.
Two more yatris died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday at the lower camp near Amarnath and at Domel en route to the cave shrine, raising the toll to five since June 24. They have been identified as 73-year-old Ramchand Jogmal Thavni from Ulhasnagar, Maharashtra, and Chander Kanta, 63, a resident of Pawa, Kurukshetra, Hary-ana. Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of Chhari Mubarak, has announced that the holy mace of Lord Shiva, as per age-old tradition, will be taken to Pahalgam for bhoomi pujan and other rituals on July 3, coinciding with Vyas Purnima or Guru Purnima. It will be later brought back to Srinagar where, after performing Chhari Puja at the city’s Dashnami Akhara on Nag Panchami on July 23, the mahant, along with other sadhus, will carry it with them to Amarnath to have darshan on Shravan Purnima on August 2, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan and marking the end of the yatra. Meanwhile, J&K governor N.N. Vohra reviewed the first two days of the yatra movement on Wednesday.