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| Amarnath pilgrimage dwindling towards fake end | | EDITORIAL | | With only a fortnight left for the two month long Amarnath Yatra to
conclude on August 9, the total number of pilgrims having undertaken
the yatra has hardly crossed the mark of 2.5 lakhs, which is much
short of the expected figure of 5 lakh pilgrims performing the yatra
during two months. The yatra which had started with a bang on 11th of
June officially, though unofficially many pilgrims had visited the
shrine even before that date, registered a heavy rush for 1st one
month, with 6 to 7 thousand pilgrims undertaking the yatra daily.
However, for last about two weeks the number has declined considerably
and lately only 1500 to 2000 pilgrims are performing the yatra daily.
At this rate, it is hardly expected the yatra figure this year to
touch even the mark of 3 lakh i.e. 2 lakh short of the originally
estimated number, as per the claims of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.
It is not only this year that the yatra dwindled after one month. This
trend has been going on for last two years. Particularly during last
fortnight of yatra, the number of devotees performing pilgrimage comes
down considerably. This calls for a thorough survey to know the exact
reasons of the pilgrimage registering considerable decline after one
month and taking effective measures to ensure that the number of
yatris remains at high level during the whole period of the yatra.
This year in particular the hype created over non formation of or
partial formation of snow lingam, through natural process of melting
of snow in the glacier above the cave and the drops falling from the
roof of the cave, thus forming natural snow lingam of Bhagwan Shiva
and more so the negative publicity of the phenomenon given by some
vested interests, has been partly responsible for the number dwindling
after some time. Infact the snow lingam starts melting much before the
yatra concludes on Raksha Bandhan Purnima, when the holy mace of Lord
Shiva is carried ceremonially to the cave shrine in a procession of
sadhus, led by Mahant of Dashnami Akhara Srinagar. This phenomenon to
some extent is responsible for the waning of enthusiasm among the
devotees, for whom the main attraction and motivating force is the
natural snow lingam. However this is only one of the reasons for the
yatra not sustaining for full two months and not touching the targeted
figure year by year. In the last two years hassles created in the
smooth conduct of yatra for two months by the then government led by
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was greatly responsible for the yatra remaining
at low key, as compared to the claimed number of pilgrims estimated to
visit. Besides some vested interests among the local traders at
Pahalgam and enroute and even in Srinagar launch a negative campaign
against the yatra alleging that the same adversely affects their
business of catering holiday tourists, who are expected to spend much
more during their visit, than the low budget pilgrims, who are served
free meals in langars by many benevolent organizations. Another
negative campaign against the prolonged pilgrimage has been its
negative effect on the ecology and environment. It will be well
advised that SASB, which regulates and controls the yatra should take
all these points into consideration. Besides seeking cooperation of
the local traders, who must be ensured of no negative effect of yatra
on holiday tourism, a concerted campaign need be launched by the SASB
to counter the negative propaganda of the adverse affects of
pilgrimage on the environment and ecology, along with taking concrete
steps to preserve the environment. Above all scientific devices need
be deployed to prevent early melting of snow, caused as a result of
the heat of human bodies, with very large number of pilgrims paying
obeisance at the cave shrine daily. The extension of yatra for two
months will achieve the desired result only if effective steps are
taken to ensure that the yatra sustains at the same level throughout
the period of two months.
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