JAMMU, Apr 9: The advance registration for the annual Amarnath Yatra will commence from April 15 across 554 designated bank branches in the country, with the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) issuing a detailed step-by-step procedure for pilgrims.
Officials said that the registration and issuance of yatra permits will be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to a fixed daily quota for each route at every designated branch.
As per the guidelines, only pilgrims aged between 13 and 70 years will be eligible for registration, while women with more than six weeks of pregnancy will not be permitted to undertake the pilgrimage, even if they possess the mandatory health certificate.
For the 2026 yatra, registration will be carried out in real time through Aadhaar-based biometric eKYC authentication, and permits will be generated online through the official portal of the Shrine Board, guidelines said.
“In case of technical issues in biometric authentication, a provision for manual data entry with webcam-based photo capture has been kept as a fallback option,” the guidelines read.
Pilgrims will be required to submit a valid Compulsory Health Certificate (CHC), issued on or after April 8, 2026, by an authorised doctor or medical institution, along with the prescribed fee of Rs 150 per permit.
For this process, the board has issued the list of doctors and institutions authorised to issue compulsory health certificates in 37 states and union territories, it said.
The designated bank branches will verify the authenticity and validity of the CHC before issuing the system-generated yatra permit, which will specify the chosen route — Baltal or Pahalgam.
The permit will also bear the date on which the pilgrim is allowed to cross the access control gates at Domel (Baltal axis) or Chandanwari (Pahalgam axis), it said.
According to the procedure, registration for a particular yatra date will close seven days in advance. Banks have also been directed to set up adequate help desks, conduct staff training, and undertake publicity campaigns to facilitate smooth registration, it said.
The Shrine Board has advised pilgrims to ensure correct Aadhaar and mobile details during registration and follow all prescribed procedures for a hasslefree pilgrimage. (Agencies)
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