Srinagar: The saffron-robed holy mace of Lord Shiva, known as 'Chhari Mubarak' has arrived at the Amarnath cave shrine for special prayers marking the ritual culmination of the annual pilgrimage, officials said. This year, around 4.5 lakh yatris visited the holy cave of Amarnath in Kashmir, they said. On Wednesday, the Chari Mubarak reached Panchtarani where it will halt for the night before heading for the cave shrine.
The 'Chhari' was taken out on a religious procession, with religious chants by devotees and mahants, from Sheshnag to Panchtarani. It was carried by Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of the holy mace. The holy mace will proceed towards the cave shrine on Thursday for the final puja to make the formal end of the 62-day-long Amarnath Yatra 2023.
The holy mace which reached the cave shrine, which is considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva, in the south Kashmir Himalayas for special prayers on Thursday, marked the culmination of the annual Amarnath Yatra. The Chhari Mubarak of Swami Amarnath Ji had left for the main course of pilgrimage on Saturday from the Mahadev Giri Dashnami Akhara here.
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The last batch of yatris left for the holy cave on August 23 and since then, the pilgrimage has remained suspended. Before the annual pilgrimage began, special prayers were held at the Dashnami Akhara temple which marked the customary commencement of the pilgrimage. Giri carried the holy mace to perform 'pujan' and have 'darshan' in the early morning of 'Shravan-Purnima' on Thursday.
On Thursday, morning 'Aarti' performed at Amarnath cave shrine. The 62-day-long Amarnath Yatra, which began on July 1 will culminated today, Aug. 31, 2023. Until July 31, a record number of over 3.88 lakh pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the shrine since the beginning of the 62-day-long annual pilgrimage on July 1.
On July 31, batch of 1,550 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar camp here on Monday for the twin base camps in Kashmir to undertake the onward journey to the 3,880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine. Of the 1,550 pilgrims in this smallest batch to leave the Bhagwati Nagar camp, 1,068 are performing the yatra through the traditional 48-km Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district while 472 are heading for the 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district, officials said.
The drop in pilgrim footfall was attributed to the complete melting of the naturally formed ice Shiva lingam at the Amarnath cave. Over the last several years, Amarnath Yatra has been witnessing fewer footfalls. Compared to over 6 lakh pilgrims who visited the cave shrine in 2012, the number has come down to over 3 lakh in 2022 and 4.5 lakh this year.
The 62-day-long pilgrimage commenced on July 1 this year and will culminate with the event of ‘Chhari Mubarak’ on August 31.(with PTI inputs)
