Amarnath Yatra Enthusiasm Surges as Over 50,000 Devotees Visit Baba Barfani

Pune, 2nd July 2024: The Amarnath Yatra, which commenced on June 29, has seen a remarkable turnout, with over 50,000 devotees visiting the holy shrine in just three days. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has directed the provision of better facilities for the pilgrims. With a total of 51,981 devotees already having had darshan of Baba Barfani, it is expected that the number of visitors will cross 100,000 in the next two to three days, given the rising enthusiasm.

The fourth batch of 6,461 pilgrims, which left from Jammu’s Yatri Niwas early morning, has successfully reached the base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam. On Tuesday morning, the fifth batch also set out for the yatra from Jammu. Despite only being three days into the yatra, the enthusiasm among the devotees is at its peak, with the number of participants continuously increasing.

Devotees who could not register in advance are lining up at Saraswati Dham near Jammu Railway Station for on-the-spot registration tokens. The pilgrimage will continue until Raksha Bandhan on August 19. Senior officials are continuously monitoring the yatra arrangements to ensure smooth operations and address any issues promptly.

Many devotees are coming to Jammu for current registration before proceeding on the yatra, while others are heading directly to Pahalgam and Baltal for registration. The increasing enthusiasm suggests that the number of visitors to the holy cave will surpass 50,000 in the next five days.

The Lieutenant Governor has instructed the provision of better facilities for the devotees. Meanwhile, the fourth batch of 6,461 pilgrims set out for Pahalgam and Baltal from Jammu’s Yatri Niwas on Monday. The batch for the Baltal route included 2,321 pilgrims, comprising 1,628 men, 525 women, seven children, and 161 sadhus. The batch for the Pahalgam route included 4,140 pilgrims, comprising 3,203 men, 698 women, seven children, and 232 sadhus. The Baltal route batch departed at 3:15 AM in 118 vehicles, while the Pahalgam route batch left at 4:10 AM in 147 vehicles.

A heavy influx of devotees is seen in Jammu for on-the-spot registration. Tokens are not being issued according to the number of devotees due to a fixed quota for tokens. The district administration has taken recent protests about the token distribution system seriously. To ensure transparency in this process, the Deputy Commissioner Jammu has made improvements to the arrangements. Meanwhile, Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar has issued a control room phone number (0191-2478993) for addressing yatra-related issues or providing necessary information to the devotees.