15,000 pilgrims start this year’s Amarnath Yatra

SRINAGAR - The annual Amarnath pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir kicked off Thursday with over 15,000 pilgrims beginning the climb to the cave shrine dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

“More than 7,000 yatris began their uphill 14-km trek at 8 a.m. Thursday from Baltal to the cave. Another batch of 1,100 yatris has also left the Manigam transit camp for Baltal,” a senior police officer said here.

“All the pilgrims are safe. Adequate arrangements of security have been made at Baltal, Manigam and all along the yatra route,” he added.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra also paid obeisance at the cave shrine and offered prayers amidst chanting of vedic hymns on the first day of the two-month-long annual Amarnath pilgrimage that ends Aug 25.

Another batch of 8,000 pilgrims left the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam town for Chandanwari, the first of the four stopovers in the 35-km trek from Pahalgam to the cave shrine, located at a height of 13,500 feet.

Hari Prasad, 49, a resident of Haryana who left the Manigam transit camp for Baltal, said: “We shall pray for peace in Kashmir and the rest of the country when we reach the holy cave.”

“This is the land of saints and ‘rishis’ (sages) besides being the abode of Lord Shiva. The people here are nice and hospitable. This is my third yatra and I know the locals have always helped the yatris in times of emergency,” he added.

Extraordinary security arrangements have been made for the pilgrimage this year because of the heightened tensions in the Kashmir Valley.

Around 3,000 Border Security Force (BSF) troopers reached south Kashmir’s Anantnag district Wednesday to provide security to the devotees.

While 1.5 lakh pilgrims have registered themselves so far, it is expected that the number of pilgrims will cross the half-million mark this year.

The cave shrine has a natural ice stalagmite that is worshipped as a Shiv Lingam, a symbol of Lord Shiva.

Vohra, who is the chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), also visited Nunwan and Baltal base camps and reviewed the arrangements for pilgrims.

He interacted with the pilgrims at the camps and enquired about the facilities for them.

The pilgrims appreciated the facilities provided by the board and the state government and also thanked the security forces for facilitating their visit.

Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Mian Altaf Ahmad flagged-off the helicopter services from Baltal to Panjtarni, while Tourism and Culture Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora launched the helicopter services from Pahalgam to Panjtarni.

This year, all the registered pilgrims have been provided free accident insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh.

An accidental insurance cover has also been provided, with support from the state government, to all the registered labourers deployed during the yatra, as well as for the pony owners, in case their horse or pony dies in an accident.

This scheme is aimed to benefit about 20,000 labourers and 7,000 pony owners, almost all of whom are economically weak.

The helicopter services launched Thursday have been made available on each of the two routes — Baltal-Panjtarni-Baltal and Pahalgam-Panjtarni-Pahalgam.

The one-way helicopter fare for Baltal-Panjtarni and Pahalgam-Panjtarni has been fixed at Rs.2,425 and Rs.3,800, respectively.

Children, between the ages of 2-12 years, will be charged half the fare.