Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 15 MARCH: Annual Amarnath yatra will begin on June 28 this year and will end on August 22, officials said. “A decision to this effect was taken at the 40th board meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) chaired by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan in Jammu,” J&K administration said in a tweet.
Registration opens on April 1, J&K administration said in another tweet.
Those present at the meeting included BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Nitishwar Kumar, Chief Executive Officer SASB, Pandurang K. Pole, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and members of the board and other senior officers of the Shrine Board also attended the meeting.
Regarding the duration and date of commencement of the Yatra 2021, the Board, keeping in view the foremost concern of the safety and security of the pilgrims, decided that a 56-days Yatra would commence on 28 June on auspicious day of Ashaad Chaturthi as per Hindu Calendar, and conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on 22 August.
Advance registration of pilgrims will commence from 1April through 446 designated branches of Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and YES Bank, located in 37 States and UTs. The Board will also enable the live telecast of morning and evening Aarti for devotees across the globe.
The administration has increased the daily route-wise pilgrim limit from 7,500 to 10,000 This number does not include pilgrims who take chopper services.
Health and safety protocols for COVID-19 will be followed strictly, officials said.
The UT administration said L-G Sinha has ordered facilities to be upgraded on both yatra routes to ensure that they are “equipped with top-of-the-line medical equipment and augmented manpower”.
“Live telecast of morning and evening Aarti for devotees across the globe will be done. Battery operated cars will ferry pilgrims from Baltal to Domel. It has also been decided to make operational telecom services at the Holy Cave and along the routes by June 15, 2021,” it added.
The Amarnath Yatra is an annual Hindu pilgrimage. The cave shrine is located at a height of 13,500 ft in Kashmir Himalayas. The pilgrimage dates back to 19th century, and traditionally ends on Raksha Bandhan, this year on August 22.
Last year’s yatra was restricted to a few sadhus, or holy Hindu men, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was called off mid-way in 2019 citing “terror threat”—a development that came just three days before the central government read down the controversial Article 370 and divided the state into two union territories.
According to J&K government figures in 2019, over 3.42 lakh pilgrims visited the cave shrine, which houses the naturally formed ice-shivlinga, while the highest number of over 3.52 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance in 2015.
