Finance
Over 2.66 lakh pilgrims have performed the ongoing Amarnath Yatra during the last 13 days as another batch of 4,434 devotees left for Kashmir on Friday.
“There is no decline in the number of Yatris arriving for this year’s Amarnath Yatra and the rush of enthusiastic pilgrims in high spirits continues,” officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) have said.
Over 2.66 devotees have received “darshan” inside the sacred cave since it opened on June 29 and continued until Thursday. This includes the more than 10,000 pilgrims that traveled to the cave shrine via helicopter from the north and south base camps.
An ice stalagmite formation that changes in size according to the moon’s phases is housed in the cave shrine. This ice stalagmite structure is considered by devotees to be a sign of Lord Shiva’s mythological powers.
The cave is located in the Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 3,888 meters above sea level. The traditional routes from North Kashmir Baltal to South Kashmir Pahalgam are the two ways that devotees access the cave shrine.
It takes pilgrims 4 to 5 days to travel the 48 kilometer Pahalgam-Cave shrine axis. The Baltal-Cave shrine axis is 14 km long and it takes one day for the pilgrims to have ‘darshan’ and return to the base camp.
Two guarded convoys of 4434 Yatris departed Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu on Friday, headed towards Kashmir.
At three in the morning, 64 vehicles comprising 1,721 pilgrims set out in the first escorted convoy, headed for the North Kashmir Baltal base camp. In 101 cars, the second escorted convoy of 2,713 pilgrims headed for the South Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp at 3.35 in the morning.
After 52 days, this year’s Yatra will come to an end on August 29, which also happens to be Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan celebrations.
