Amarnath pilgrimage to resume from June
JAMMU: The annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Amarnath located at a height of 3,880 metres in south Kashmir Himalayas has been scheduled to commence on June 30, an official said on Sunday. The decision to schedule the 43-day pilgrimage was taken at a meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board chaired by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.
“Today chaired Board meeting of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. The 43-day holy pilgrimage will commence on 30th June with all covid protocols in place & culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raksha Bandhan. We had in-depth discussion on various issues also on upcoming Yatra,” Sinha wrote on twitter.
The Amarnath yatra was cancelled midway in 2019 ahead of abrogation of Article 370 in August that year, while only a symbolic yatra was observed the past two years due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
On June 21 last year, the Jammu and Kashmir Government had decided to cancel this year’s Amarnath Yatra due to the Covid-19 situation in the country but all the traditional religious rituals were performed at the
Holy Cave Shrine as per past practice.
Out of all Hindu deities, Lord Shiva is worshipped not only by Indians but also by people of other countries. To get closer to their revered God, who appears on this earth in the unique form of an ice Lingam, millions of devotees trek through the daunting mountains to Shri Amarnathji Shrine in South Kashmir every year in the summer months to pay their obeisance.
The Shrine is managed by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), which was constituted by an Act of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature in 2000 with the Governor of
Jammu and Kashmir as its ex-officio Chairman.
The Amarnath Yatri Niwas at Chanderkote in Ramban district has been readied and the LG will inaugurate it before Baisakhi or in the ensuing Navratri festival. The executing agency CPWD has raised the infrastructure at a cost of ₹32.16 crore.
The Yatri Niwas has 17 blocks and in each block 216 pilgrims can be accommodated in six dormitories.
This year, the administration has started preparing for a fullfledged pilgrimage to the cave shrine at an altitude of 13,000 feet in south Kashmir Himalayas.