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| Bhole Nath all the way, as pilgrims start reaching Amarnath | | Board denies lingam shrinkage reports | |
Jammu, June 26: Well ahead of its formal official commencement, the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrive of Amarnath in South Kashmir district of Anantnag has begun with scores of pilgrims trekking the uphill braving rains and strong wings.
Meanwhile, keeping the unhealthy tradition of past three years controversy have again erupted as media reports alleged shrinking of the ice lingam in the shrine. Reacting quickly to the reports the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board authorities have denied any such possibility.
Speaking to media persons in Srinagar, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Chief Executive Office, Dr Arun Kumar today dismissed media reports that the naturally formed ice lingam at the 3,880 metre cave shrine has shrunk or reduced in size.
He said, "there is no truth in the media reports suggesting that the ice lingam has reduced to half," SASB Chief Executive Officer Arun Kumar told agencies in Srinagar.
Dr Kumar pointed out that he had paid obeisance at the shrine yesterday and found the height of the lingam intact. But it had thinned, which is a natural phenomenon due to rising temperature.
Meanwhile, so far hundreds of pilgrims, taking the 14 km long track via north Kashmir's Baltal base camp, have had the glimpse of icon of Lord Shiva formed by ice inside the holy cave, also known as Amarnath Cave.
Weather conditions in Baltal, 82 km from here, worsened Monday, which resulted in the death of a pony owner, Habibullah. Pilgrims who find it difficult to walk use the ponies.
"Nearly three dozen pilgrims en route to the cave shrine were rescued and safely brought back to Sonamarg after hostile weather Monday evening.
"With weather improving today (Tuesday), pilgrims have restarted their trek to the cave," a police officer said.
Many pilgrims, mostly from the families of the security forces, undertake the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave much ahead of the official schedule.
Traditionally, the pilgrims prefer to take the south Kashmir route, which includes the 46 km trek from Pahalgam base camp. The route involves three days of one-way trek.
The north Kashmir Baltal route, however, is less time consuming but is more vulnerable and has dangerous terrains. It takes just one day to return from the cave to the base camp.
Hundreds of personnel from the police, paramilitary forces and the army have been deployed on both north and south Kashmir routes.
Officials have also confirmed that this year the formation of the holy icon inside the cave had taken place normally because of the late March snowfall in the area.
"It (icon) was fully formed when I visited the shrine in the first week of this month," said S.K. Sinha, the governor of Jammu and Kashmir who is also the chairman of the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board.
The police in Jammu are taking no chances as preparations begin for the annual Amarnath yatra, starting on June 30 amid tight security.
The route, taken by thousands every year to the Kashmir Valley, goes through Jammu and the police are now checking all vehicles entering the city.
''The security arrangements for the Amarnath yatra have been tightened this year. All passenger vehicles are being checked at entry and exit points of the city. The focus will be on that,'' said Mubashir Latif, SP, Operations, Jammu.
With intelligence inputs suggesting there might be militant attacks on pilgrims, an additional eight companies of the CRPF and nine companies of the Jammu Kashmir Police have been posted for the Yatra.
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