Amarnath Yatra begins, 2,750 pilgrims leaves Nunwan base camp for cave shrine

The pilgrimage was flagged off by Deputy Commissioner Piyush Singla at the Nunwan base camp in the Anantnag district's Pahalgam

Amid chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and 'Bam Bam Bhole’, the 43-day long annual yatra to the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnath ji in south Kashmir Himalayas began on Thursday with religious fervor.

Deputy Commissioner Piyush Singla flagged off the first batch of 2,750 pilgrims from the Nunwan base camp in the Anantnag district’s Pahalgam, which is the traditional route for the pilgrimage. The journey, most of it on foot, takes about three days with night halts at Sheeshnag and Panchtarni along the route.

Another batch of pilgrims left for holy cave from base camp Baltal in Sonamarg of central Ganderbal district. This is a shorter route and a pilgrim can come back in a single day after having darshan at the holy cave.

The local Muslims were seen welcoming the pilgrims at different places enroute the Holy Cave Shrine. The pilgrims were touched by the warmth shown by the locals.

“It has been after two years of wait that I got an opportunity to have darshan at the Holy Cave Shrine. On way to the base camp in Sonamarg, we were welcomed by the locals everywhere. The hospitable people of Kashmir are going to make the yatra a grand success this year,” Anil Kumar, a pilgrim from Delhi told DH.

On Wednesday morning, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had flagged off the first batch of 4,890 pilgrims from the Jammu base camp.

This year, the pilgrimage to the 3,880 metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, is expected to see higher than usual attendance of pilgrims as it is resuming after a gap of three years.

The annual yatra was canceled in 2020 as well as 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, it was cut short following intelligence inputs of terror threats ahead of the Centre's move to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

With intelligence inputs about possible attack by the militants on the pilgrims, unprecedented security arrangements have been made to ensure the yatra remains incident-free. To ensure only bona fide pilgrims are present at the pilgrimage, authorities have asked all intending pilgrims to carry Aadhaar cards or any other biometric verified document with them.

Thousands of pilgrims each year undertake the Amarnath Yatra to the shrine cave to worship an ice stalagmite called Shivlingum, believed to be the symbol of Lord Shiva, the god of destruction and regeneration. The yatra will culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raksha Bandhan, on August 11.