The annual Amarnath yatra concluded on the occasion of Shrawan Purnima that coincided with Raksha Bandhan on Monday. The yatra had commenced on June 29 along both the Baltal and the Pahalgam routes.
Special Puja and other rituals were performed inside the Holy Cave. A large number of devotees including Sadhus and other pilgrims performed Puja for about two hours inside Cave and had darshan of ice lingam that marks the culmination of this year’s 40-day Yatra. Earlier, the holy mace of lord Shiva called Chhari Mubarak reached the holy cave in a procession of sadhus led by Mahant Deependra Giri from the Panchtarni halting point on the traditional Pahalgam Yatra route. The lord Shiva’s mace will return to its abode at Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar.
Besides multi-tier security arrangements, the divisional administration had put in place all types of arrangements and facilities for the Yatris. More than 2.60 lakh yatris had darshan of ice lingam at the Holy Cave Shrine during this year’s 40-day pilgrimage. The year recorded the second lowest number of pilgrims in a decade. last year, more than 2 lakh 20 thousand yatris had darshan of ice lingam during 48 day Yatra. The Yatra period coincided with the public uprisng in Kashmir triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani. The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) officials said a total of 54 yatris lost their lives during the yatra that includes the eight pilgrims who were killed in an attack at Botengoo village in south Kashmir on July 10. Aa many as 29 persons including yatris and service providers within the yatra area due to accidents and medical failures.
The post Yatra sanitation and cleanliness work has been launched in Holy Cave, Yatra Base Camps and along Baltal and Pahalgam Yatra routes.
An official spokesman said that pooja to mark the closing of the annual pilgrimage to the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnathji, on Shravan Purnima, was held amid chanting of religious hymns. On the formal closure of the yatra, Governor NN Vohra, who is alos ex-officio chairman of SASB chaired a review meeting with CEO and other concerned officers.
Governor expressed sadness over the death of 29 persons in this year’s pilgrimage, within the Yatra area. Those who lost their lives were pilgrims, service providers and others, of whom 3 died due to accidents and 26 due to medical failures. Governor conveyed his heartfelt sympathy to the families of 8 pilgrims who lost their lives in a terrorist attack on a bus carrying pilgrims and to the next of kin of 17 Yatris who were killed in a road accident in Ramban district. He stressed the need for identifying fresh and further measures which could perhaps prevent the loss of precious lives in the future Yatras.
As decided in the meeting held by Governor last week, CEO inspected sanitation and cleanliness at Holy Cave, Panjtarni and Baltal Camps and apprised the Governor about the ongoing Sanitation Drive in all the Camps and on the Yatra tracks under the supervision of the Camp Directors, and representatives of the various state Government departments deployed in the Yatra Camps. The Govvernor directed CEO to ensure that no Camp Director leaves the Camp unless all cleaning work has been fully completed, at all locations, as per the approved Sanitation Action Plan for Yatra 2017.