Inclement weather throughout July in Kashmir forced authorities to suspend the annual Amarnath Yatra several times resulting in a steep decline in the number of pilgrims paying obeisance at the holy cave shrine.
After a two-year suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Shrine Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which managed the affairs of the Yatra, was expecting a record six to eight lakh pilgrims to undertake the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnathji in south Kashmir Himalayas this year.
The 43-day long Yatra this year commenced on June 30 from the twin base camps of Nunwan in Pahalgam of south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Baltal camp in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
However, just nine days later a massive cloudburst hit Baltal base camp on July 8, resulting in the death of 15 pilgrims and injuries to several others. Authorities had to suspend the Yatra for next three days and nearly 40 thousand pilgrims who were on their way to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine had to be evacuated.
In the first nine days of the pilgrimage over one lakh visitors had performed darshan at the shrine. When the Yatra resumed on July 12, the rush of devotees decreased with inclement weather playing a spoilsport.
A senior officer, managing the affairs of the Yatra, said just over 2.5 lakh pilgrims have performed the Yatra so far. “By August 11, when the Yatra will culminate, we expect the number may reach three lakh, if weather doesn’t hamper the pilgrimage further,” he said.
The Yatra to the holy cave shrine will culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raksha Bandhan, on August 11. A total of 36 people, mostly pilgrims, have died during the ongoing Yatra, excluding 15 pilgrims who were killed in flash floods near the cave shrine on July 9.
However, the officer said ensuring peaceful Yatra so far has been a big achievement “as there were multiple reports that terrorists may strike.”
“We have ensured that the Yatra passes off peacefully. Weather isn’t in our hands, otherwise this year a record number of pilgrims would have performed the Yatra,” he added.
Since the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) took the control of the Yatra in 2001, the number of pilgrims who visited the holy cave dropped from 1.91 lakh during that year to 1.10 lakh in 2002, and 1.70 lakh in 2003. The number rose again to four lakh in 2004, followed by 3.88 lakh in 2005, 3.47 lakh in 2006, 2.96 lakh in 2007, 5.33 lakh in 2008, 3.81 lakh in 2009, 4.55 lakh in 2010, 6.21 in 2011, 6.35 in 2012 and 3.54 in 2013, 3.72 lakh in 2014, 3.52 in 2015, 2.21 in 2016, 2.60 in 2017 and 2.85 in 2018.
Every year lakhs of pilgrims either take the traditional and longer 45km-long Pahalgam route or the shorter 14km-long Baltal route to Amarnath, one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines. The pilgrimage usually spans nearly a month-and-a-half and takes place during July and August.