Annual Amarnath Yatra to begin from June 29

JAMMU: The annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas will commence from June 29 and conclude on August 19, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) announced on Sunday.

Advance registration for the 52-day-long yatra will be opened on April 15, the board said.

The annual yatra takes place from the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steep Baltal route in Ganderbal district.

Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in the Pahalgam tehsil of the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is a cave situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 168 km from Anantnag city, the district headquarters, 141 km (88 mi) from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, reached through either Sonamarg or Pahalgam. The Amarnath cave, abode of the Mahamaya Shakti Pitha, is one of the 51 Shakti Pithas.

The cave, located in Sind Valley, is surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains and is covered with snow most of the year, except for a short period in the summer, when it is open to pilgrims.

In 1989, pilgrims numbered between 12,000 and 30,000. In 2011, the numbers reached a peak, crossing 6.3 lakh (630,000) pilgrims. In 2018 pilgrims numbered 2.85 lakh (285,000).

Inputs from PTI