Shrine Board considering to limit Amarnath Yatra to 30 days

The holy annual Amarnath Yatra has been suspended on Baltal route due to inclement weather conditions. The route of Amarnath Yatra from Baltal has become slippery and muddy due to continuous rain last night. The yatra on Phalgam route, however, is unaffected and is going on as per schedule.

An organization providing free food, night shelter and blankets to the Amarnath yatra pilgrims suggested to Shrine board headed by Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, the Shri Amarnathji Barfani Langer Organisation, to limit the annual pilgrimage to 30 days.

The 60-day long annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas commenced on June 27. This year’s yatra will be longer by 20 days against last year’s 40 days. The yatra is scheduled to end on August 26 coinciding with Shravan Purnima festival.

In a request to the shrine board headed by Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, the Shri Amarnathji Barfani Langer Organisation said limiting the pilgrimage to 30 days is a good option since the number of pilgrims reduces after a point. The service providers’ organisation said 90 per cent of the pilgrims come on the yatra during the first 30 days.

Over two lakh pilgrims have registered for the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas. Last year, over 2.6 lakh people registered for the annual pilgrimage.

A fresh batch of over 1,200 pilgrims, including 300 women and 100 sadhus, left the base camp for the cave-shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir on Monday.  Out of the 1,200 pilgrims, 773 pilgrims have opted for the Pahalgam track in Anantnag district, while 435 were going from the shorter 12-km Baltal side in Ganderbal district. Reports are that there could be landslides and also posibilities of boulders falling on the yatris because of which the yatra on Baltal route suspended.