Yatra resumes, over 12,000 perform darshan; 2 more pilgrims die, toll 8

A view of Chhari-Mubarak of Shri Amarnath Yatra-2022 in Srinagar on Wednesday.
A view of Chhari-Mubarak of Shri Amarnath Yatra-2022 in Srinagar on Wednesday.

Holy mace to be taken to Pahalgam on July 13

Avtar Bhat

JAMMU, July 6: With Shri Amarnath Ji yatra resuming from both Baltal and Nunwan base camps this morning, over 12,000 pilgrims performed darshan of naturally formed Ice Lingam in the cave shrine of Lord Shiva situated in snow bound Himalayas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag by this evening.

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As per official reports, the yatra which was temporarily suspended from both Baltal and Nunwan -Pahalgam base camps yesterday due to inclement weather was resumed early this morning after improvement in the weather conditions.
The yatra from Jammu which the authorities last night had decided will remain suspended due to bad weather was also allowed to leave for twin base camps of Nunwan -Pahalgam in South Kashmir district of Anantnag and Baltal in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal later this morning after improvement in weather condition on the yatra routes.

Stranded yatris waiting outside Yatri Niwas in Jammu on Wednesday.    —Excelsior/Rakesh
Stranded yatris waiting outside Yatri Niwas in Jammu on Wednesday. —Excelsior/Rakesh

However, the yatra moved six hours late than normal schedule time and it created traffic chaos on Jammu city roads for about two hours as huge traffic jams were witnessed and people especially office goers and members of business community were put to lot of trouble as they could not reach their destinations well in time.
Meanwhile, Mahant of Chhari Mubarak of Shri Amarnath Deependra Giri Ji Maharaj has also announced the schedule of Chhari Mubarak of Shri Amarnath Ji including rituals namely ‘Bhoomi Pujan,’ ‘Navgrah Pujan’ and Dhawajarohan connected with traditional commencement of annual pilgrimage of Chhari Mubarak to holy cave.
According to officials, 4300 yatris who were detained at Chanderkot Yatri Niwas in Ramban district by the administration yesterday were also allowed to proceed for the base camp of Baltal this morning. However, 3000 pilgrims out of 5932 who left Jammu for the twin base camps today were halted at Chanderkot Yatri Niwas in Ramban distirct by the authorities. The decision was taken due to heavy rush of pilgrims at base camp Baltal where according to reports 10,810 stranded pilgrims were allowed to leave for darshan to holy cave this morning while 249 left by chopper for darshan up to 11 am today.
Reports said that 2569 pilgrims from Nunwan base camp also left for darshan to holy cave this morning while hundreds of pilgrims left for their onwards sojourn from Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panchtarni camps.
Reports said that with 12, 836 pilgrims performing darshan at cave shrine today a total number of 88,236 pilgrims have performed darshan of naturally formed Ice Lingam in holy cave during last one week since the yatra started on June 30.
Meanwhile, two pilgrims are reported to have died today. One pilgrim fell unconscious in the bus after returning from darshan at Qazigund in Kulgam district and he was shifted to Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. Another pilgrim who developed complicacy near holy cave was shifted to SMHS Hospital at Srinagar where he also breathed his last. With these two deaths eight pilgrims have died in last seven days of yatra, reports said.
Reports said that Amarnath yatra chopper made a dangerous landing at Panchtarni today and Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered a probe into the matter after taking serious cognizance of the incident that involves dangerous landing of a private helicopter at Panchtarni.
In a statement, the DGCA said that the operator of the chopper service has been grounded and the pilot has been de-rostered. The video of the visibly haphazard landing went viral on social media shortly after the incident.
The saffron-robed holy mace of Lord Shiva, popularly known as ‘Chhari Mubarak’, will be taken from its abode here to Pahalgam, the traditional base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, on July 13 for special prayers, marking the commencement of the ‘religious yatra’ to the 3,880 metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
As per the age-old tradition, rituals namely ‘Bhoomi-Pujan’, ‘Navgrah Pujan’ and ‘Dhawajarohan’ connected with traditional commencement of annual pilgrimage of Chhari-Mubarak Shri Amarnath Ji shall be performed at Pahalgam on auspicious occasion of ‘Ashad-Purnima’ (Vyas-Purnima) on July 13, custodian of the holy mace, Mahant Deependra Giri, said in a statement from Srinagar today.
After performing the rituals, Chhari Mubarak would return to Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar on the same day.
He said the Chhari-Mubarak will be taken to the historic Shankracharya Temple here on July 28 and Sharika Bhawani Temple on July 29 before rituals are performed for Chhari-Sthapana at Shri Amareshwar Temple Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar on July 31.
After performing Chhari-Pujan at Dashnami Akhara here on the auspicious occasion of ‘Nag-Panchami’ on August 2, Mahant Giri will carry the Holy Mace to Holy Cave Shrine on ‘Shravan-Purnima’ which falls on August 12.
There will be night halts at Pahalgam on August 7 and 8, Chandanwari on 9, Sheshnag on August 10 and Panchtarani on August 11.
Mahant Giri urged the government to make all the necessary arrangements and take the appropriate preventive measures for the safety and security of the sadhus and pilgrims accompanying the Holy Mace.
He also advised Sadhus and members of civil society, who intend to join Chhari-Mubarak, to get themselves registered and stated that only registered pilgrims with valid yatra permit shall be allowed to accompany Chhari-Mubarak during the pilgrimage.