Pahalgam: With chants of 'Bam Bam Bhole' and 'Har Har Mahadev' devotees on Thursday began a journey of faith to the Amarnath Cave Shrine located in the Himalayas at 3880 metre height.
The first batch of about 2750 pilgrims left the Nunwan base camp here on the Pahalgam-Chandanwari route after being flagged off by Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Piyush Singla, and secretary Tribal Affairs, Shahid Choudhary early in the morning.
The pilgrims, including sadhus, women, old, young and children assembled at the gates of the base camp after reaching here on Wednesday. It takes three days on foot via this route with night halts at Sheeshnag and Panchtarni to reach Holy Shrine.
The pilgrims expressed happiness over the resumption of the annual pilgrimage this year after a gap of almost three years. In 2019, the Yatra was curtailed days ahead of the abrogation of Article 370. The pilgrimage did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place for the smooth conduct of the Yatra. Security forces conducted another round of sanitisation along the route in the wee hours of the day shortly before the commencement of the pilgrimage.
To ensure only bona fide pilgrims are present at the pilgrimage, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has asked all pilgrims to carry Aadhaar cards or any other biometric verified document with them.
Apart from the deployment, drone surveillance and RFID chips are also a part of the three-tier security arrangements for pilgrims. The peaks leading to the holy cave have been covered by the security forces and a round-the-clock vigil is being maintained.
The pilgrimage is being monitored with the help of CCTV cameras and drones on both routes. (With Agency inputs)
