Pilgrims arrive for Amarnath yatra in Jammu
The air was filled with shouts of “Bam Bam Bhole” and “Bhole Nath ki jai” and the scene was reminiscent of many such occasions, the expressive display of religious fervour, witnessed here and also at Pahalgam, the other base-camp to the Amarnath cave-shrine, in the past.
The first batch of pilgrims arrived here from Jammu late on Sunday afternoon to join thousands of devotees who had already relocated to Baltal set between fairly sleepy hills with breathtaking views, cool even during the height of summer, and 96-km north of summer capital Srinagar. Many of them said they had been camping here for the past couple of days waiting to embark on the foot journey to the 12,729-foot-high place of worship in the Kashmir Himalayas.
“We wanted to start the journey on Saturday and tried this on Sunday morning also but the authorities did not allow on the plea we would be only risking our lives,” said Rajendra Singh Jamwal from Akhnoor near Jammu.
“Some of the halting places and also portions of the tracks and even the stairs to the holy shrine still had very large accumulation of frozen snow and it would have been irresponsible to allow the pilgrims to proceed beyond the base-camps before the problem was resolved,” said the authorities. Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) added that the twin tracks have been cleared for the passage of the pilgrims but were still slippery at many places.
The fresh arrivals here were part of the convoy of cars and lorries with 2,298 pilgrims on board that was flagged off by tourism minister Nawang Rigzin Jora in the winter capital earlier in the morning and split up at Khanabal, 52-km south of summer capital Srinagar. The other part headed for Pahalgam. The tourism officials put the estimated number of the devotees waiting here at Baltal now at 10,000 as many opt for embarking on this shorter route to climb a steep mountain instead of traditional Pahalgam route to reach the cave-shrine.
The annual pilgrimage to Amarnath will officially begin on Monday with first batches of Hindu devotees being allowed to take the arduous journey through rugged mountains.
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