Jammu: On Thursday, the administration began the process of registering devotees arriving for the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas. 1600 pilgrims have arrived at the Bhagwati-Nagar base camp for their journey to Kashmir, officials said. They reported there was a rush to throng basecamp.
Over 800 Sadhus, including women, have come to the traditional Ram Mandir and Geeta Bhawan, eager to pay their obeisance at the 3,880-meter-high sacred cave sanctuary in the south Kashmir Himalayas that contains the naturally formed ice Shivling.
The 52-day pilgrimage will begin on June 29 on the two tracks: the traditional 48-kilometer Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag and the 14-kilometer shorter but steeper Baltal route in Ganderbal. The first set of pilgrims will leave Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp and Ram Mandir for the valley on Friday.
While an on-the-spot registration center has been put up for unregistered pilgrims in the city’s Shalimar region, a special camp for sadhus has been set up at the Ram temple complex in Purani Mandi, according to officials.
“On-the-spot registration has begun today for unregistered pilgrims traveling from various parts of the country,” Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) and In Charge of the Mahajan Hall registration center, Seema Parihar, informed the media. She stated that a quota has been set for registration centers in Jammu and that her center has so far registered 358 unregistered pilgrims for the journey, out of a total quota of 600 for the day. She also stated that all facilities for easy registration have been put in place.
The Sadhus and Sadhvis have eagerly awaited for the start of the yatra and chanted ‘Bam Bam Bhole and Jai Jai Baba Barfani’.
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