Srinagar, 13 July: During the last 10 days, more than 1.82 lakh yatras have demonstrated the ongoing Amarnath Yatra on Sunday as another batch of 7,049 pilgrims from Jammu to Kashmir.
Officials said that since the yatra started on July 3, more than 1.82 lakh pilgrims had ‘darshan’ inside the holy cave pilgrimage site.
“We hope that the figure of crossing two lakhs today, because the journey is moving smoothly and peacefully. Another batch of 7,049 Yatris left Bhagavati Nagar Yatri Nives in two escort convoys for the valley today. The first escorted convoy is carrying the Escorted convoy. The officials said that the Nanwan (Pahalalgam) left the Yatris 4.20.
The Bhumi Pujan of ‘Chhari Mubarak’ (the holy mace of Lord Shiva) was done in Pahgam on Thursday. Chhari Mubarak was taken by a group in Pahgam, led by the only patron of Mahan Swami Deepender Giri, led by the seat up to Pahgam in Dashanami Akhara building in Srinagar.
In Pahalgam, Chhari Mubarak was taken to the Gauri Shankar temple, where Bhumi Pujan was held. Chhari Mubarak will reach the holy cave pilgrimage site on August 9, when the journey will officially conclude.
Officials have made extensive multi-level security arrangements for this year’s Amarnath Yatra, as it takes place after a cowardly attack on 22 April in which Pakistan-backed militants killed 26 citizens after separating them on the basis of confidence in Basaron Meadow of Pahgam.
An additional 180 companies of CAPF have been introduced to increase the current strength of Army, BSF, CRPF, SSB and local police.
The army rolled out ‘Operation Siva 2025’, with more than 8,500 soldiers deployed with advanced monitoring and combat technology. The army stated that a large -scale operation, launched in coordination with civil administration and CAPF, is designed to provide a multi -level security grid with both the Baltal and Pahgam routes.
The army stated that as part of comprehensive deployment, a dedicated counter-UAS (unmanned aerial system) grid has been deployed to combat drone-based hazards as a dedicated counter-UAS (unmanned aerial system), featuring 50 C-UAS and EW (Electronic Warfare) systems.
“Live monitoring through UAV (drone) and PTZ camera feeds is actively monitoring the travel convoy and holy cave. Engineer task force has been mobilized for infrastructure works like bridge latting, track widening, and landslide mitigation. The operation includes more than 150 doctors and parameds, two advanished dressing stations. The army said that lacquer liters of oxygen has also been deployed, adding signal companies, EME technical troops and bomb detection and disposal squads.
All transit camps are protected by security forces for two base camps and the entire route from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Nivas to Cave Temple in Jammu.
This year, the yatra began on 3 July and will end on 9 August after 38 days, which match with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan.
The Yatris Kashmir is located in the Himalayas by either traditional Pahalgam route or small Baltal route at the holy cave pilgrimage site located 3888 meters above sea level.
People using the Pahgam route pass through Chandwari, Shashanag and Panchtni to reach the temple of the cave, which cover a distance of 46 km on foot. This trek takes four days to a pilgrim to reach the cave temple. And, those using the small Baltal route have to cover a distance of 14 km to reach the cave pilgrimage site and return to the base camp on the same day after traveling.
No helicopter services are available for Yatris this year due to security reasons.
The cave temple has an ice stagmite structure that vans and waxes with the stages of the moon. Devotees believe that ice stagmite structure is a symbol of the mythological powers of Lord Shiva. The Amarnath Yatra is one of the most sacred religious pilgrims for Hindu devotees, as Lastanti says that Lord Shiva narrated the mysteries of eternal life and immortality to Goddess Parvati inside this cave.