Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Aug 10: The 44-day long annual Amarnath pilgrimage concluded today as the Chhari-Mubarak, holy silver mace of Lord Shiva, reached the cave shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, which falls on Shravan Purnima.
According to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, 3,72,909 pilgrims performed darshan of the self made Ice-Lingam formed in the holy cave shrine, situated at 12,000 feet above sea level this year. Today on last day of the Yatra, 632 pilgrims paid their obesience at the holy cave shrine. The pilgrimage, which began on June 28 from the shorter Baltal route and on July 2 from the Pahalgam route, was by and large peaceful with only aberration being clashes between local tentwallas and community kitchen operators at Baltal on July 18.
Police said 46 pilgrims died during this year’s pilgrimage due to various causes with cardiac arrest accounting for most of the deaths. The deceased included 39 pilgrims, two Sadhus and five Sevadars (volunteers). Four volunteers died in a fire incident inside a community kitchen.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, who is Chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, Chief Executive Officer Rakesh K Gupta, Mahant Deependra Giri of Dashnami Akhara, who is custodian of the holy mace and a group of sadhus, who carried the Chhari-Mubarak, were among the first to have the darshan of holy Ice-Lingam at the cave shrine this morning. They prayed for sustained peace, harmony, progress and prosperity in the State as well as in the country.
Earlier, religious slogans like ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Bam Bam Bhole echoed in the air when the holy mace, carried by Mahant Deependra Giri, left Panjtarni for the cave shrine in the wee hours today. About 300 devotees, including sadhus, accompanied by the Chhari, reached the cave shrine after covering 5-km-long track on foot from Panjtarni. Chhari-Mubarak had reached Panjtarni yesterday and after a night halt there, left for the cave shrine for Pujan at 5 a m today.
Mahant Giri, who led the devotees in the Pujan inside the cave shrine, said he prayed for peace and prosperity in the country. Traditional rituals were performed and prayers were offered the whole day at holy cave. Before dusk, Chhari-Mubarak left the cave for night halt at Panchtarani from where it will leave tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. for the next night halt at Pahalgam.
On the occasion of ‘ Dvitiya’ on August 12, Pujan and Visarjan ceremonies shall be performed at 9.15 a.m. on the bank of river Lidder at Pahalgam. Thereafter, traditional Kari-Pakori Bhandara shall be organized for Sadhus and with this last ritual, annual pilgrimage will culminate and Chhari-Mubarak will return to its Abode at Srinagar.
Meanwhile, after paying obeisance at the cave shrine, Governor N N Vohra visited Panjtarni, Baltal, Sheshnag and Nunwan Yatra Camps and held review meetings with the officers from Civil, Police, CPO, Army and the District Administrations of Ganderbal and Anantnag districts. The Governor expressed satisfaction over the smooth conduct of this year’s Yatra, despite serious constraints arising from the heavy snowfalls in the preceding months.
The Governor directed the CEO to ensure complete cleaning up of all camp sites and to prepare a camp and route-wise Action Plan for Yatra 2015, keeping in view the experiences gained during this year’s pilgrimage. He stressed that route-wise arrangements of all aspects of the Yatra must be worked out well in advance with particular focus on medicare, sanitation, cleanliness, water and power supply and other facilities and side by side, ensuring effective protection of environment and ecology of the Yatra area. In this context, the Governor is chairing a Post Yatra Review Meeting on August 13 in which over a hundred officers will participate, who were concerned with the management of Yatra 2014.
The Governor expressed serious concern over the loss of life of pilgrims due to medical reasons and accidents, during this year’s Yatra. In this context, in the review meetings held by the Governor at all the yatra camps he held detailed discussions with the Medical officers and requested them to identify the preventive measures which could prevent loss of precious lives in future Yatras.
The Governor also asked the CEO to immediately launch a full scale post-Yatra sanitation drive, fully involving the Pahalgam and Sonamarg Development Authorities, so that the entire Yatra area is effectively cleaned up in the next few days.
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