Jammu, Jun 30 (PTI) Around 2,500 devotees, including seers, were registered at on-the-spot ‘tatkal’ counters here in the last two days for the Amarnath Yatra, officials said on Friday.
The pilgrimage to the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas is witnessing a heavy rush of people from different parts of the country. On-the-spot or tatkal registration counters are catering to unregistered pilgrims, they said.
A senior officer told PTI that around 2,500 unregistered devotees have been successfully registered for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra in the past two days at these counters.
Besides them, more than 3,500 pilgrims have arrived in the city for their onward journey to the twin base-camps of the Yatra in the Kashmir valley, the officials said.
Long queues were observed at the five tatkal counters at Vaishnavi Dham, Mahajan Sabha, Panchayat Ghar, Geeta Bhawan and Ram Mandir.
Arvind Kumar from Bhopal, who has undertaken the pilgrimage four times, said, “We are standing in a long queue for registration. But due to the change from manual to online mode, we no longer have to spend as much time in queues. It is a better system this time.” “The online mode of registration is very efficient, it takes very little time. Everything we need is available under one roof,” Sunita Devi from Kolkata said.
Over 600 seers have congregated at the Ram Mandir base camp in Purani Mandi.
“Baba Barfani Ki Jai! This is my sixth time on this pilgrimage. I have already completed the Chardham Yatra and will now pay my respects at Amarnath along with my group of seers,” said Harish Giri from Madhya Pradesh.
Swami Sideshwar Mahara from Kashi, who has been visiting Amarnath for the past 12 years, said, “I find solace in seeking the blessings of Baba Bholanath. I will continue to pay my respects at Amarnath every year till my death.” There is a multi-tier security arrangement for the annual Amarnath Yatra that commenced from Jammu on Friday.
The first batch of pilgrims will travel to the twin base-camps in Kashmir, embarking on the journey to the cave shrine at a height of 3,888-metre. PTI AB AB ANB ANB
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.