NEW DELHI, March 27: After a break of two years when only “symbolic yatra” was taken out, the Amarnath yatra will resume year and will begin on June 30. The yatra will last for 43 days, the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s office tweeted on Sunday.
The decision to fix the date was taken at a meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The Amarnath yatra was cancelled midway in 2019 just before special statue to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped and it was divided into two Union Territories. After that, only a symbolic yatra was observed in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today, chaired board meeting of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. The 43-day holy pilgrimage will commence on 30th June with all Covid protocols in place and culminate, as per tradition, on the day of Raksha Bandhan. We had in-depth discussion on various issues also on upcoming yatra,” Sinha’s office tweeted.
The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board was formed in the year 2000 with the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir as its ex-officio chairman. Millions of devotees had been trekking through the daunting mountains to Shri Amarnathji Shrine in south Kashmir every year in the summer months to pay their obeisance to Lord Shiva.
(Manas Dasgupta)
