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1 lakh devotees have darshan, Amarnath pilgrimage concludes

The yatra concluded when the 'Chhari Mubarak' (holy mace of Lord Shiva) reached the cave shrine in north Kashmir, accompanied by several hundred devotees and sadhus, at 0930 IST on Thursday, after a night halt at Panchtarni.

Mahant Dipender Giri from the Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar led the August 17 procession. It halted at Pahalgam on August 19, before reaching the shrine on August 22 after a 45km mountainous trek.

Wednesday was the last day for darshan and hundreds of devotees thronged the shrine to pay their obeisance, a district official said.

In spite of elaborate security arrangements, the month-long pilgrimage did suffer casualties. Nine pilgrims were killed at the Nunwan base camp in indiscriminate firing by a militant on August 6, and two devotees were killed when militants hurled a grenade at their vehicle in Anantnag on July 30.

Nineteen pilgrims died of illnesses and other natural causes, the official said.

Of the nearly 111,350 pilgrims, 108,950 were registered while the rest joined in after the state administration allowed them to proceed to the holy cave from August 5.

Landslides on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, triggered by torrential rains in the first week of August, also led to a temporary suspension of the pilgrimage.

Reports from Poonch district said more than 1,000 devotees had darshan at the Budha Amarnath temple in Rajpura (Mandi), about 25km from Poonch town, despite heavy rains.

The district administration and the Border Security Force have made elaborate arrangements for lodging, boarding, medical aid, and security at Rajpura. The management committees of the Budha Amarnath and other social organisations have also arranged free community kitchens, the official said.

Meanwhile, a weeklong Machail Yatra in the Sapphire valley of Doda district in Jammu division also ended on Thursday with over 12,000 devotees offering prayers at the temple of Machail Dam, the official said.

The pilgrims, who left Jammu in several buses after performing the thali pujan at the Lakshmi temple on August 17, reached Bhaderwah the same evening. They were joined by several thousand devotees en route from Udhampur and Doda district, the official said.

PTI

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