Pahalgam wears a festive look as hundreds of Hindu worshippers receive a warm welcome upon their arrival in scenic Kashmir Valley’s premier resort on Friday, before their treading upon the mountain trails run northeast to Amarnath cave-shrine.
Many of the devotees have assembled at Gauri Shankar temple to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva and his consort goddess Parvati whom it is dedicated to and warm up for the arduous journey through rugged terrain to Amarnath.
Situated on the banks of gushing Lidder River, the Gauri Shankar temple like the nearby centuries’ old Mamleshwar temple, also dedicated to Lord Shiva, become a major attraction during the annual Amarnath pilgrimage.
A group of saffron clad hermits or Sadhus, after praying at the Gauri Shankar temple, take out a procession but, after covering less than 200 metres, they return to sacred premises – all chanting ‘Bham Bham Bholey’ and other religious hymns.
Meanwhile, first officially escorted convoy of a few hundred cars and buses carrying the pilgrims reached Nunwan, a basecamp, about three kilometres down the main town of Pahalgam, late Friday afternoon. Another convoy of pilgrims has halted at a Yatri Niwas of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in Srinagar’s Pantha Chowk area before leaving for Baltal basecamp in the Ganderbal district.
Earlier during the day on Friday, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, had flagged off the first batch of Amarnath pilgrims from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar with the prayer “May the blessings of Baba Amarnathj bring peace, happiness and prosperity to everyone’s life”. Mr. Sinha extended his best wishes to all the pilgrims “for a safe, blessed, and spiritually enriching journey”.
The cavalcade of 231 light and heavy vehicles carried 4,603 pilgrims and was split in two escorted convoys -one with 1,933 pilgrims bound for Baltal and the other with 2,670 pilgrims heading for Nunwan. Among the pilgrims, there were 3,631 males, 711 females, 9 children, 237 Sadhus and 15 Sadhvis. Already, thousands of pilgrims are camping at Baltal, Srinagar, Nunwan, Pahalgam, and Chandanwari and other places in the Pahalgam area of Anantnag district and Ganderbal district to embark on the ‘journey of faith and devotion’.
Jai Kishan Pachauri who has along with his mother, spouse and two children travelled all the way from Bhopal to visit the abode of ‘Bhole Baba’ and have darshan of the Shivling” said, “The weather here is slightly hot and humid, but we are excited to be among the first to bow our heads to the great lord and seek his blessings.” He has found the arrangements made for the devotees’ journey “excellent”.
The 52-day-long annual pilgrimage to Amarnath cave-shrine tucked away in Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 3,888 meter will officially begin on Saturday from both traditional Pahalgam and shorter Baltal routes. The cave-shrine, the holiest of Hindu places of worship in north India, is at a one-day trek (14-km) from the basecamp of Baltal, 96-km north of summer capital Srinagar, and at three-day trek (34-km) from Chandanwari (Pahalgam), which is 109-km south-east of Srinagar and 247-km east of Jammu.
The officials of the SASB which manages the affairs of the annual event expect more than half a million pilgrims to visit the cave-shrine during the yatra to be concluded on August 19, coinciding with Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan). So far, 3.5 lakh pilgrims have registered for this year’s yatra whereas the authorities have allowed registration of intending pilgrims on arrival in Srinagar and Jammu, as well
Tight security arrangements have been made for the yatra. The officials said that apart from the deployments, a robust security cover has been put in place which includes satellite and chip-based tracking of vehicles and pilgrims along the yatra routes, basecamps and halting stations to ensure a smooth and incident free pilgrimage. Also drones, mobile bunker vehicles and road opening parties (ROPs) have been pressed into service for the purpose. Like last year, CCTVs have also been installed on National Highways including NH44 to strengthen the security and address the traffic related issues. Also, traffic restrictions are being imposed on various routes from June 28 to August 19, with daily advisories issued to minimise inconvenience, the officials said.
The J&K government has, as part of “foolproof arrangement” for the smooth conduct of the event, involved almost its’ all departments and agencies in it. Interestingly, the local Muslims traditionally play an important role in the conduct of the pilgrimage. They have set up hundreds of makeshift eateries and tea-stalls besides as many as 125 free langars or community kitchens laid by about 6,000 volunteers, mainly of outside voluntary groups and charities at Baltal, Chandanwari and Nunwun and also at other halting places en-route the save-shrine. Hundreds of ponywallas and porters-almost all locals- have also moved in to serve the pilgrims. Tent cities have already come up at Baltal and Nunwan.
Mr. Sinha told reporters in Jammu that in the last 3-4 years, “a lot of arrangements” have been made for the yatra. “This time also, the J&K administration has done all the necessary arrangements. Elaborate security arrangements have also been put in place for the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.”
