Unfazed by terror, new pilgrims continue yatra

Terror attack on the Amarnath yatra has failed to deter the Amarnath pilgrims. A fresh batch of pilgrims consisting 3,289 people left Jammu for Baltal and Pahalgam yatra base camps, on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Officer of (CEO) of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Umang Narula, said 4,836 yatris started their onward journey to the shrine from the Baltal route and 5,776 yatris started trek from the Pahalgam route on Tuesday.

Shashi Shekhar of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, received a phone call from well-wisher that the pilgrims were attacked but he was certain that he will visit the holy shrine.

"We have full confidence in our security forces. We will go ahead with our schedule of pilgrimage," he said after reaching Mir Bazar from Jammu.

Situated in a narrow gorge at the altitude of 3,888 metres, the holy Amarnath cave is accessible from two routes in Kashmir Valley. The 46 km Pahalgam–holy cave trek is an ancient pilgrimage route which is covered in five days. There lies the ice lingam of Lord Shiva that is formed naturally and waxes and wanes with the moon. The new 14 km Baltal-holy cave route is now preferred by the pilgrims since it is shorter though steep, and journey can be completed in a day.

Unfazed by the attack, Makhan Shankar of Ranchi was pepped up to undertake the pilgrimage without worrying about the Monday's attack. "We are not going to stop. We will have a darshan of Bole Baba. We are not afraid of any terrorists," he said.

The atmosphere at the base camp in Jammu was electric. Shouting Bam Bam bole, the yatris started their march in the wee hours from Jammu to reach Baltal and Pahalgam camps.