Amarnath Yatra concludes: Undeterred by terror attack, 2.6 lakh pilgrims made the pilgrimage

The shrine board said the number of pilgrims who did darshan by Thursday evening stood at 2,57,589. This year, however, the second lowest count of pilgrims in the last 14 years. In 2016, the number was 2.2 lakh as the yatra happened amid unrest in Kashmir.

The yatra’s security forces were drawn from the Indian Army, CRPF, ITBP, SSB and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. As many as 35,000 security personnel were deployed for the security of the yatris.

Besides the deaths in the terror attack, 17 people died in a bus accident and 23 of natural causes. The police had said the driver had violated rules, which said no yatra vehicle should be on the highway after 7 pm. Twenty-three people also died of natural causes.

The terror attack, which was perpetrated by the Lashkar-e-Toiba miliants on July 10 was the worst since the August 2000 attack at the pilgrims’ base camp in Pahalgam which claimed the lives of 30 pilgrims. After the July attack, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said: “The terrorists have tainted the name of Kashmiris and Muslims. We hang our heads in shame. I have no words to condemn this, I hope those involved will be arrested and punished soon. We will not rest before they are punished.”

Prior to the terror attack, the yatra was suspended for two days ahead of slain militant commander Burhan Wani’s death anniversary on July 9. Undeterred by the security situation, a fresh batch of pilgrims left for the pilgrimage on July 12 with an escorted convoy. This was the way of things for yatris leaving mostly from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas.

After a testing 40 days, the yatra was concluded on Shravan Purnima. The holy mace of Lord Shiva and the Chhari Murabark arrived with the custodian Mahant Deepindra Giri and a group of sadhus at the shrine for day long prayers from the traditional trek. Now the holy mace will start its journey back to its abode at Amareshwar temple at Dashnami Akhara by evenfall.

The holy cave will now be closed for darshan from Monday onwards. The pujan and visarjan ceremonies that are to be performed for the Chhari Mubarak will be done at the banks of Lidder river in Pahalgam on Wednesday.