By IANS,
Srinagar/Jammu : Over 2,000 pilgrims Tuesday reached north Kashmir’s Baltal base camp and another 2,000 are expected to reach later in the evening as the annual Amarnath pilgrimage was flagged off from Jammu in the morning amid religious fervour.
“More than 2,000 pilgrims have already reached the Baltal base camp. Another 2,000 are expected to reach this evening,” Syed Imtiyaz Hussain, superintendent of police north Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, told IANS on the phone from Baltal.
“No pilgrim will be allowed to continue the journey to the base camp after 6 p.m. today (Tuesday) and those arriving after 6 p.m. at the Manigam transit camp would halt there for the night,” he added.
Meanwhile, another batch of around 1,000 pilgrims is expected to reach the Pahalgam base camp in the evening to start the pilgrimage from the traditional south Kashmir route.
Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora gave the green signal to the yatra (pilgrimage) from Jammu as the first batch of 2,096 pilgrims set out in 73 vehicles from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar.
Officials said the number of pilgrims this year will be an all-time high because of “peace in the Kashmir Valley”.
“All arrangements for the yatra are in place and adequate arrangements of security, lodge and board, sanitation and health care have been made,” said Shafqat Ahmad Watali, deputy superintendent of police, south Kashmir Anantnag range.
Two airlines, Pawan Hans and Himalayan Airlines are Wednesday starting helicopter sorties for the pilgrims from Baltal and from Panjtarni on the south Kashmir Pahalgam route.
Tastefully-decorated food stalls displaying pictures of Lord Shiva and electric illuminations have come up all along the 84-km-long Srinagar-Baltal route.
Kiosks have also been built by the locals outside the Manigam transit camp in Ganderbal district and at the Baltal base camp.
The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has issued special permission to the locals to erect tents inside the Manigam transit camp for the convenience of the pilgrims.
So far, 250,000 pilgrims have registered themselves with the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for the Himalayan pilgrimage.
An on-the-spot registration too has been opened for pilgrims, arriving in Jammu or in Srinagar without prior registration.
Pilgrims are enthusiastic about the pilgrimage for two reasons – pleasant weather and greater sense of security along the route.
“It’s great weather in the Kashmir Valley, and this is a blessing of Lord Shiva. These are signs of a successful yatra,” said Shalini Meena from Sikar in Rajasthan.
Vehicles of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police would escort the pilgrim’s convoys from Jammu to the two base camps. Nearly 30,000 personnel have been deployed all the way to the cave shrine.
At some places, pilgrims trek through the mountainous passes, some as narrow as one foot wide.
Hundreds of pony owners at Baltal eagerly look forward to the pilgrimage. “I have kept my pair of ponies in good shape,” said Bashir Khatana, 37, at the Baltal base camp.
Last year, nearly half-a-million pilgrims visited the shrine despite the summer unrest in the Kashmir Valley that left 110 people dead in clashes between mobs and the security forces.
Locals are credited with the success of the Amarnath pilgrimage.
“It is because of the cooperation and assistance of the locals that the yatris feel secure and comfortable,” said Bashir Ahmad, a retired veterinarian in north Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
The cave shrine is located at a height of 13,500 feet above sea level. A natural stalagmite of ice, called with reverence the Shivling, forms here. Its first darshan will take place Wednesday.
The pilgrimage is to last until Aug 13, when Hindus celebrate Raksha Bandhan.