Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Aug 29: With the arrival of Chhari Mubarak (Silver mace of Lord Shiva) at holy cave in the wee hours, the two -month long annual Amarnath yatra culminated today.
The ‘Chhari Mubarak’, which was carried by a group of Sadhus led by its custodian Mahant Deependra Giri, arrived at the 3,880 metre holy cave in the wee hours after trekking a distance of six kilometers from Panchtarni halting station, marking the conclusion of the yatra, officials said.
Special prayers were held at the cave shrine, which houses the naturally formed ice-lingam, for the peace and prosperity of the State and country after the arrival of the ‘Chhari Mubarak’. The entire atmosphere was surcharged with spirituality after the reciting of Vedic hymns, bhajans and ringing of conch shells by the Sadhus.
Governor, N N Vohra who is the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) also visited the cave shrine this morning along with Chief Executive Officer of the Board P K Tripathi and paid obeisance to holy mace and Ice Lingam there.
The Governor also prayed for the sustained peace, harmony, progress and prosperity in the State.
The Sadhus after performing pooja -archana in the cave shrine for the entire day left for the Panchtarni with the holy mace. After a night halt at Panchtarni the holy mace will return to Pahalgam tomorrow.
Next day i.e on August 31 the relics will be immersed in river Lidder by Sadhus. This will be followed by serving of prashad to them before the holy mace returns to its abode in Amreshwar temple in Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar.
Meanwhile a last batch of 282 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine today.
With this 3,52 771 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine of Amarnath this year as the two -month long annual yatra concluded on Shravan Purnima today the day coinciding with the festival of ‘Raksha Bandhan’.
The yatra, started on July 1 from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here with first batch of pilgrims leaving for holy cave from the twin routes of Pahalgam in Anantnag district of South Kashmir and Baltal in Ganderbal district of Central Kashmir, remained by and large peaceful, officials said.
Over 3.52 lakh pilgrims performed ‘darshan’ at the cave shrine, they said, adding, majority of the pilgrims preferred shorter 16-km Baltal route over the traditional 45-km Pahalgam track.
Police said 41 persons, including 30 pilgrims and four security personnel, died during this year’s pilgrimage due to various causes with cardiac arrest accounting for most of the deaths. The deceased also included a ponywalla and a labourer, the police said.
The Governor after paying obeisance in the cave shrine expressed his satisfaction over the smooth conduct of the yatra this year, despite serious difficulties arising from the flash floods, cloudbursts and the road blocks.
He complimented all the officers and agencies involved in the yatra arrangements for the smooth conduct of the yatra this year.
Vohra also gave instructions to the CEO to ensure complete cleaning of all camp sites and to prepare a camp and route wise action plan for the yatra 2016, keeping in view the experience gained during this year.
The Governor also expressed concern over the death of pilgrims during this year’s yatra and conveyed his deepest sympathies with bereaved families.
He also issued directives to CEO to immediately launch a full scale post yatra sanitation drive, involving the Pahalgam and Sonamarg Development Authorities.
Meanwhile various KP organizations have made an appeal to Governor N N Vohra and Mahant Deependra Giri Ji that the tradition of viserjan (immersion) of relics of the annual Amarnath yatra be maintained by immersing them at Nav Dal Tral in South Kashmir’s district of Pulwama after the culmination of annual yatra.
They said that the viscera of the relics at Nav Dal Tral where nine springs of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati exist has been a tradition from Puranic period and same should continue.
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