Amarnath yatra ends peacefully, 2.85 lakh pilgrims pay obeisance

M Aamir Khan

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 26

The two-month-long Amarnath yatra concluded peacefully on Sunday with the holding of prayers at the cave shrine of Lord Shiva nestled in the South Kashmir Himalayas at an altitude of around 13,500 feet. Puja was held when the ‘Chhari Mubarak’ (holy mace) depicting Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati arrived at the shrine.

“We prayed for peace in the state as well as the country,” said custodian of the holy mace Mahant Deependra Giri, who led a group of sadhus to the cave shrine.

The Amarnath yatra, which is held along the Pahalgam and Baltal routes, concludes when the mace arrives at the cave shrine on Shravan Purnima.

According to Bhupinder Kumar, Additional Chief Executive Officer of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), 2,85,006 yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine. Last year, 2.6 lakh pilgrims had performed the yatra.

This year, the annual yatra had begun on June 28 amid security concerns even as inclement weather conditions posed a bigger challenge, causing frequent suspensions in the pilgrimage. During the first two weeks, several pilgrims had to go back without undertaking the yatra despite reaching the base camps. In the first week of July, three pilgrims died of a landslide on the Brarimarg-Railpathri stretch of the Baltal route while two others died of stones rolling down mountains. However, weather conditions improved later and the yatra too was conducted smoothly.

Inspector General, CRPF, Srinagar sector, Ravideep Singh Sahi termed the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage a “great achievement”. “It is a matter of satisfaction and great achievement for all of us… for the security forces and the people of Kashmir that this long yatra of two months passed off peacefully. And it was due to the efforts of our jawans and officers along with the cooperation of locals that the yatra by and large went off peacefully,” he said.

First two weeks hit by bad weather  

This year, inclement weather conditions caused frequent suspensions in the pilgrimage. During the first two weeks, several pilgrims had to go back without undertaking the yatra despite reaching the base camps. In the first week of July, three pilgrims died of a landslide on the Brarimarg-Railpathri stretch of the Baltal route while two others died of stones rolling down mountains