The annual Amarnath Yatra began on Thursday as a batch of about 2,750 pilgrims left the base camp in Nunwan, Jammu-Kashmir, for the cave shrine housing the naturally formed ice-lingam in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
Indian Armed Forces around the country and beyond performed yoga to celebrate the eighth edition of the International Day of Yoga, June 21, 2022.
The pilgrimage will be a big security challenge for the government as Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing a number of targeted killings by terrorists in recent weeks.
The advisory comes in the wake of the recent inclement weather along the Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa route of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nepal, and the consequent stranding of pilgrims for over a week.
Three persons were killed and 19 others injured after a cloudburst struck near the base camp of Amarnath yatra along the shorter 16-km Baltal route to the cave shrine in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district, officials said on Saturday.
Five pilgrims, including two women, died enroute the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the toll during the ongoing yatra to six, police said on Wednesday.
Amarnath Yatra was on Friday suspended on Baltal and Pahalgam routes due to incessant rainfall since Thursday night.
State-owned BSNL has become the first telecom firm to launch mobile services at the Holy Amarnath cave, as well as on the two routes of the yatra.
The annual Amarnath Yatra is on amid tight security, with pilgrims from both Baltal and Pahalgam base camps starting their journey for the 3880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The authorities on Sunday seized a helicopter belonging to a private operator for allegedly making unauthorised sorties between Srinagar and Baltal, the base camp of the Amarnath yatra, in Ganderbal district of Kashmir.
Five more pilgrims died en route to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the toll during this years's pilgrimage to 83, officials said on Monday.
The annual Amarnath yatra to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas will commence on June 28 and culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raskha Bandhan festival on August 22, officials said.
The ongoing pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas was on Tuesday suspended from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps as heavy rains lashed parts of the Valley, officials said in Srinagar.
More than 1.35 lakh pilgrims had darshan of the naturally formed Shivlingam since the start of the annual pilgrimage on June 21.
With the weather playing fickle and heavy rains washing away a portion of the shorter Baltal route, the annual trek to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath was suspended for the second day on Monday, officials said.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath will begin on June 29, Sri Amarnath Shrine Board which manages the yatra announced on Thursday.
The joint separatist camp, including Hurriyat Conference factions led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik-led Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front, has asked the people to march to Tral to pay tributes to Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces on this day last year.
A batch of 429 pilgrims left for the yatra from Jammu. The pilgrims included 32 women and 102 sadhus.
A fresh batch of 6,162 pilgrims, including 1,360 women and 222 Sadhus on Monday left the winter capital for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in Kashmir, officials said.
Even as India is slowly recovering from a series of blasts and terror alerts, the CRPF recovered 1.5 kg Improvised Explosive Device from the Amarnath yatra route in Srinagar Valley on Thursday.
Heavy rains were lashing Pahalgam and Baltal sections of Amarnath routes and tracks have become slippery.
Heavy rains Monday morning rendered the 46-km Pahalgam-cave and 14-km Baltal-cave routes slippery and dangerous.
The pilgrims have been asked not to proceed to the cave in view of threat of landslides posed by heavy rains, the officials said adding they have been asked to take shelter in the specially erected shelter-sheds on both the routes.
It has been suspended due to incessant rains.
The yatra to the cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir, situated at an altitude of 3,880 mt, was suspended from both the routes -- Pahalgam and Baltal -- on Tuesday as heavy rains rendered the ardous tracks slippery, sources said.
The Amarnath yatra, suspended for two days, resumed from Jammu on Friday.
Private carrier Jagson Airlines, which operates between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, will start helicopter operations for Amarnath pilgrims with 44 daily services to the holy shrine from Srinagar and Baltal in Jammu and Kashmir.
Use of plastic bags has been banned in Pahalgam, Baltal and en route to the Amarnath cave shrine as part of a master plan to check environmental damage and introduce eco-friendly facililies for pilgrims
The first batch comprising 1,160 Amarnath yatris was on Friday flagged off by the state tourism minister from Jammu base camp to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The Yatra was suspended on Wednesday following heavy rains.
Amid tight security arrangements, the annual Amarnath yatra commenced from Jammu as the first batch of 1,280 pilgrims left for the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas.
The issue of pilgrimages to the Amarnath and Vaishnodevi shrines, both located in Jammu and Kashmir, was discussed at a high-level meeting attended by Union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Jitendra Singh and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Jammu and Kashmir administration. The Amarnath Yatra is likely to commence on July 21.
Five more devotees died en route the Amarnath shrine pushing the toll since the commencement of the annual yatra to 47 even as the number of pilgrims paying obeisance at the cave temple crossed the 3-lakh mark on Sunday.
Nine more pilgrims, including a couple from Odisha, died en route to the 3,880-metre high holy shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 97.
Four pilgrims and an Army jawan have died of cardiac arrest en route to the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 37, officials said on Friday. The jawan, identified as Naik Sant Lal, a resident of Haryana, collapsed during patrolling in Brarimarg area along the Baltal-cave route, the officials said. Lal was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.
The police on Sunday detained 53 Bajrang Dal activists after foiling their bid to move towards Baltal base camp of Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir, ahead of the commencement of the annual pilgrimage in June. Flagged off by Vishwa Hindu Parishad state chief Rama Kant Dubey from Jammu city, a group of 150 members boarded two buses and left for Kashmir Valley. They were intercepted by the police on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Jajjarkotli, 35 km from Jammu.
