Jammu: Off-line registration for the annual Amarnath Yatra commenced on Wednesday, with hundreds of devotees turning up at the designated centres a day before Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is scheduled to flag off the first batch of pilgrims from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp here.
The 57-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high Amarnath cave shrine is scheduled to begin on July 3 from the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district, and the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
Around four lakh pilgrims have already registered online for the Yatra.
Overnight rain, which turned the weather pleasant in Jammu, did little to deter the enthusiasm of the pilgrims, who queued up outside the registration centres from the wee hours to get their passes for the Yatra.
The on-the-spot registration for token holders commenced on Wednesday morning, while token distribution continued for the second consecutive day for pilgrims reaching Jammu from different parts of the country.
Counters for registration and token distribution have been set up on the Tawi riverfront near the Jammu artificial lake, Geeta Bhawan, Ram Mandir and Bhagwati Nagar.
The first batch of pilgrims will be flagged off from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp early Thursday.
Among the devotees was Sandhu Ram Kishan, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, whose distinctive appearance drew attention.
With coins from different countries attached to a Rudraksha covering his head and chest, Kishan said his attire reflected his unwavering faith in Lord Shiva.
“Without Rudra, nothing happens,” Kishan told PTI, adding that he undertook a ‘Maun Vrat’ for 14 years and had been visiting the cave since 2006.
He described the Rudraksha as a source of spiritual strength, and said he was visiting the shrine with the hope of seeing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath become the prime minister of the country.
The registration centres resonated with chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Bam Bam Bhole’, as the devotees waited patiently for their turn.
Anushka, part of a six-member family group from Pune, said she had long aspired to undertake the pilgrimage, drawing inspiration from her father who has been making the annual pilgrimage for the past 10 years.
“My father will turn 70 next year and may not be able to continue the Yatra for long. He never allowed us to accompany him, saying it was a very arduous pilgrimage. But now we are here and we are determined to complete the Yatra together,” she said.
Accompanied by her parents, Neelu Sangani from Rajasthan said nothing mattered more than having the opportunity to pay obeisance at the cave shrine.
Her father, Chander Shekhar, praised the arrangements made by the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board and the administration, saying the facilities enabled the devotees to obtain tokens without any difficulty.
Jitendra Giri from Uttar Pradesh, however, was not impressed with the arrangements.
“People are jostling in the queues, while the barbed-wire barricades are also causing inconvenience. The authorities should improve crowd management so that the pilgrims, especially the elderly, do not face hardships while waiting for their turn,” he said.
Senior civil and police officers, including Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Minhas and SSP Joginder Singh, visited the registration counters to oversee the arrangements and review the crowd management measures.
The officials also interacted with the pilgrims and directed the persons concerned to ensure hassle-free registration, orderly token distribution and adequate public facilities.
According to the local weather office, Jammu recorded 35.8 mm of rainfall during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, bringing down the minimum temperature to 23.3 degrees Celsius, 2.7 notches below the season’s average.
