In an impressive turnout, nearly three lakh pilgrims have visited the revered Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir's Anantnag within the first fifteen days of the annual pilgrimage, according to official reports.
An official informed that a total of 294,983 devotees from across India and various parts of the world have made the sacred journey to the Amarnath cave since the commencement of the 52-day yatra on June 29.
On July 13 alone, a significant number of 14,255 pilgrims completed their pilgrimage.
Early on Saturday, the 16th batch of 4,669 pilgrims departed from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas, embarking on their journey towards the twin base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam and Baltal-Sonamarg.
The group set off in a convoy of 183 vehicles, which included 3,418 men, 1,130 women, 23 children, 96 Sadhus, and two Sadhvis.
Specifically, 1,630 pilgrims headed towards the Baltal base camp at 3:05 am, while 3,039 pilgrims left for the Pahalgam base camp at 4:00 am. From these base camps, the pilgrims will continue their trek to the holy cave. The official added that all pilgrims reached their respective base camps by the evening and are scheduled to proceed for darshan.
The Amarnath Yatra, a significant spiritual journey in the Hindu faith, spans 52 days and will culminate on Shravan Purnima, which this year falls on August 19. This date also coincides with the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan, marking a doubly auspicious occasion for the pilgrims.
Div Com Kashmir directs officers to ensure proper sanitation in pilgrims' camps
To ensure smooth facilitation to Yatries, the Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri conducted a surprise visit to Yatra Transit Camp, Pantha Chowk in Srinagar.
During the visit, the Divisional Commissioner inspected the physical status of various facilities at the site including electricity, drinking water, sanitation, parking space besides medical facilities.
He also took stock of the functioning of the food langars established at the camp. He interacted with the langar functionaries.
The Divisional Commissioner asked the Departments to keep provisions for extra arrangements at the Camp to tackle any exigent situation so that Yatries do not face any difficulty.
It was further informed that all necessary arrangements with regard to drinking water and electricity facilities have been made well in advance at the halt camp.
With regard to sanitation and cleanliness facilities, the officers of Srinagar Municipal Corporation were directed to ensure proper sanitation and cleanliness in the transit camp on a regular basis, besides the deployment of sufficient staff at the camp for periodical cleanliness in and around the transit camp.
