Early Times Reporter
Jammu | May 11
Situated at the mouth of the picturesque ravine south Kashmir Himalayas, the Amarnath cave shrine, housing ice lingum of Lord Shiva is expected to attract a record 5 lakh pilgrims this year.
The two month yatra begins from June 18, Director Public Relations, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), Madan Mantoo said.
We expect an increase of over one lakh and seventy five thousand devotees more this year and besides being prepared to provide facilities, our focus is to take measures in direction of eco-friendly and preservation of nature in all forms, he said.
Pre-fab rooms and toilets have come up all along the 46 kms Pahalgam-Amarnath and Baltal-cave routes. Helipads too have been shifted from Amarnath cave to other places almost one and half kms away from cave.
As many as 3.25 lakh pilgrims visited holy cave shrine last year and in 2006, 4.07 lakh tourists visited the shrine. "This year we expect to break all previous records", Mantoo said.
This yatra has never stopped since its its commencement several centuries ago. Even at the time of peak of militancy in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 as many as 15700, 23000, 29708 and 36007 pilgrims visited, he said.
After that there was heavy increase in arrival of pilgrims to Amarnath. As many as 67 thousand visited shrine in 1994, 98 thousand in 1995, 1.03 lakh in 1996, 1.33 lakh in 1997, 1.64 lakh in 1998, 1.91 in 1999, 2.10 lakh in 2000, 2.13 lakh in 2001 and 2.42 lakh in 2002, 2.84 lakh in 2003, 3.47 lakh in 2003, 3.77 lakh in 2004 and 4.02 lakh in 2005. |
