Amarnath Yatra starts after three years, 3,000 pilgrims visit cave shrine on day one

SRINAGAR: After a gap of three years, the Amarnath Yatra in the Himalayas started amid tight security measures in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Over 3,000 pilgrims had darshan of the ice lingum at the cave shrine on the first day.

Chanting religious and Vedic mantras, hundreds of pilgrims started the pilgrimage from both the routes – the 48 km traditional Pahalgam route and the 14 km Baltal route.

A group of 4,890 pilgrims had arrived in the Valley on Wednesday from Jammu after being flagged off by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha from  Bhagwati Nagar base camp.

Rahul, a pilgrim from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, said he is happy about taking the pilgrimage.

“People are cooperative and the weather is very pleasant,” he said.

A woman pilgrim, Vaishali, from Maharashtra, who took the Pahalgam route to pay obeisance at the cave shrine, also expressed her excitement.

“I am undertaking the pilgrimage for the first time. It is a great feeling,” she said.

The authorities have made strong security measures on both routes to ensure safe and smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.

Thousands of security men armed with automatic weapons are keeping a watch on the movement of pilgrims. The security personnel have been deployed atop peaks and along the routes.

Drones, RFIDs and CCTVs are being used to monitor and track the movement of vehicles. The pilgrims have been advised to travel only in the yatra convoys.

In the morning, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha performed a puja and prayed for peace, happiness and prosperity of all.

“I have full faith that the devotees travelling from all over the country will have a safe and memorable pilgrimage to Amarnath,” he said.