Jammu, Aug 8 (IANS) Due to inclement weather and the Met Department’s forecast of heavy rain, especially in Jammu and Kashmir’s Jammu division, authorities decided to suspend the Amarnath Yatra on Saturday as no pilgrim was allowed to move from here to the Valley.
As more than 4.75 lakh Yatris had ‘darshan’ inside the holy cave shrine till Friday, the number of Yatris arriving in Jammu for the pilgrimage has also come down now.
Officials said no fresh batch of Yatris was allowed to leave the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu towards the Valley today.
Depending upon weather, officials said the situation would be reviewed and the condition of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway would be monitored closely during this period since this is the only road used by the pilgrims to reach the base camps of the Yatra.
SANJY-2026 started on July 3 and it will conclude on August 28 after 57 days coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.
No Yatri is presently allowed to perform the Yatra from the south Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp route due to track maintenance being underway.
Yatris are performing the Yatra from Baltal base camp in north Kashmir Ganderbal district.
Earlier, the Amarnath Yatra resumed on Thursday after a day’s suspension due to security reasons on the 7th anniversary of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
A fresh group of 1,801 pilgrims, which officials said was the 28th batch, left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu at 2.45 a.m. for the Baltal base camp in Kashmir under tight security vigil.
The batch comprised 1,347 men, 351 women, 89 sadhus and 14 sadhvis, travelling in 74 vehicles.
Since this year’s Yatra started on July 3, more than 4.71 lakh Yatris had darshan inside the holy cave shrine.
The holy cave shrine situated at 3880 metres above the sea level in Kashmir Himalayas houses an ice stalagmite structure that wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon.
Devotees believe that the ice stalagmite structure symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva.
–IANS
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