Holy mace to leave for cave shrine on Aug 4: Mahant
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 7: The holy mace (Chhari Mubarak) of Swami Amarnath Ji will leave for cave shrine situated in deep Himalayas at an altitude of 3880 metres in South Kashmir district of Anantnag from its abode Dashnami Akhara Srinagar on August 4.
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Announcing this at Srinagar today, Mahant Deependra Giri Ji, the custodian of holy mace said the Chhari Mubarak will reach the cave shrine for Darshan on Sawan Purnima falling on August 9 -the day also coincides with the holy festival of Raksha Bandhan.
He said after leaving from Dashnami Akhara on August 4 the holy mace will pay obeisance at different shrines enroute including Sun temple of Mattan in Anantnag district. It will have a two days night halt at Pahalgam on August 4 and 5 before embarking on final sojourn to cave shrine, he added.
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Mahant Ji, while announcing the programme said as per the age-old tradition, rituals namely ‘Bhoomi-Pujan’, ‘Navgrah Pujan’ and ‘Dhawajarohan’ connected with traditional commencement of annual pilgrimage of Chhari-Mubarak, Swami Amarnath Ji shall be performed at Pahalgam on auspicious occasion of ‘Ashad-Purnima’ (Vyas-Purnima) falling on Thursday, the 10th of July, this year.
Chhari-Mubarak shall be taken to historic Shankaracharya Temple on July 24 and Sharika Bhawani Temple on July 25 before rituals are performed for Chhari-Sthapana at Shri Amareshwar Temple Dashnami Akhara Srinagar on Sunday, the 27th of July 2025.
He said traditional Chhari-Pujan shall be performed at Dashnami Akhara Srinagar on July 29 on the auspicious occasion of ‘Nag-Panchami’. Embarking on the main course of pilgrimage on 4th of August, Mahant Deependra Giri shall carry the holy mace to holy shrine of Swami Amarnath Ji to perform Pujan and have ‘Darshan’ on auspicious occasion of ‘Shravan-Purnima’ on the 9th of August after having night halts at Pahalgam on 4th & 5th, Chandanwari on 6th, Sheshnag on 7th and Panchtarni on 8th of August.
In a communication sent to the administration of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Mahant Deependra Giri has urged it to make all the necessary arrangements to preserve the age-old traditions and ensure the movement of Chhari-Mubarak as per the schedule and take all the preventive measures for the safety and security of the Sadhus and pilgrims accompanying the holy mace.
Mahant Deependra Giri has also advised Sadhus and members of civil society to get themselves registered who intend to join Chhari-Mubarak and stated that only registered Sadhus/pilgrims with valid Yatra permit shall be allowed to accompany Chhari-Mubarak during the pilgrimage.
Mahadev Gir Dashnami Akhara Trust, Srinagar has made all the arrangements like yester years for Sadhus coming from across the country for annual pilgrimage of Swami Amarnath Ji for their food and comfortable stay at Akhara Building, Budshah Chowk, Srinagar, he added.
Meanwhile amid a multi-tier security cover, more than 8,600 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu early Monday to join the annual Amarnath pilgrimage in the Himalayas, while 23,857 pilgrims performed darshan at holy cave on fifth day today officials said.
The total number of pilgrims performing darshan at cave shrine in last five days has touched 93, 341, officials said.
—Excelsior/Sajad Dar
Among the 23,857 pilgrims who paid obeisance to naturally formed Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva at holy cave included 17,257 males, 5297 females, 341 children, 255 Sadhus, 41 Sadhivis, 9 transgenders and 657 security men.
The sixth batch of 8,605 pilgrims which left from here to twin base camps of Nunwan and Baltal included- 6,486 men, 1,826 women, 42 children, and 251 Sadhus and Sadhvis. They left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here in 372 vehicles amid tight security arrangements at 3.30 am and 4.25 am, the officials said.
The first pilgrim convoy, carrying 3,486 pilgrims in 166 vehicles, left for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in the Ganderbal district, followed by the second convoy of 5,119 pilgrims in 206 vehicles who are undertaking the yatra from the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district, they said.
This was the largest batch of pilgrims since Wednesday, when Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha flagged off the yatra in Jammu on July 2. With this, a total of 40,361 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the Valley.
There is a huge rush at the counters for on-the-spot registration, with authorities increasing the number of counters as well as the daily quota to ease the rush.
Over 3,000 devotees arrived in Jammu from various parts of the country to get themselves registered.
Amid chants of “Bum Bum Bhole” and “Har Har Mahadev”, enthusiastic pilgrims left with religious fervour for Amarnath shrine from Jammu, which transformed into a “city of divinity”.
Undeterred by the Pahalgam terrorist attack that left 26 people dead on April 22, the pilgrims said that they have no fear as they embarked on the pilgrimage to seek blessings of Lord Shiva by paying obeisance at natural ‘Ice Lingam’ at the cave shrine.
They said that they will pray to Shiva to end terrorism in Kashmir and the increasing number of devotees thronging the yatra will send a befitting reply to terrorists and Pakistan – that they do not fear them.
The Yatris were fully satisfied with arrangements made by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and UT administration right from Jammu to holy cave.
More than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage so far. Thirty-four accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being issued to the pilgrims. Twelve counters have been set up for on-the-spot registration.
Arrangements have been made to provide boarding and lodging facilities for more than 50,000 people at various lodgement centres across the Jammu region, from Lakhanpur to Banihal, they said.
A total of 106 lodgement centres have been set up for the purpose, they added.
A total of 180 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), which is 30 more than previous years, have been deployed for the security of the annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu division this year, a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, as per reports three Amarnath yatris were among four persons injured in a road accident in Anantnag district of Kashmir valley today.
Officials said the accident took place this morning near Chandanwari when a taxi skidded off the road, leaving three yatris and the driver injured.
“All four received minor injuries,” officials said. The three injured yatris were residents of Gujarat.
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