SRINAGAR: After a year’s gap, the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas will commence on the auspicious day of Ashaad Chaturthi on June 28 this year and conclude after 56 days on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 22, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which is headed by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, decided at a meeting in Jammu on Saturday. The yatra will be held with strict adherence to Covid protocol and no one below 13 years and above 75 years of age will be allowed to participate in the pilgrimage, an SASB official said.
The pandemic had played spoilsport with the yatra last year, leading to its cancellation. In 2019, the yatra was called off mid-way following nullification of Article 370 on August 5 that year.
To keep religious sentiments alive, the Board will continue live telecast/virtual darshan of morning and evening aartis, while traditional rituals will be performed as per practice, the official said.
Situated in a narrow gorge at the farther end of Lidder Valley, the Amarnath shrine stands at 3,888 metres above sea level. It’s 46km from Pahalgam and 14km from Baltal.
Advance registration of pilgrims will commence from April 1 through 446 designated branches of Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and YES Bank in 37 states and UTs.
The Board deliberated at length on the number of yatris (pilgrims) who would be allowed to register — date-wise and route-wise — for this year’s yatra. Considering the carrying capacity of the existing tracks and other available infrastructure in the yatra area, the Board decided to enhance the daily route-wise yatri ceiling from 7,500/day/route to 10,000/day/route, excluding yatris who would travel by helicopters.
During the meeting, the Board approved enhancement of remunerations for pujaris (priests) from the existing Rs 1,000 per day to Rs 1,500 per day for the next three years.