Amarnath Yatra | Yatra to Amarnath 2021 | Jammu Kashmir - Jammu Tales

Amarnath Yatra 

Amarnath Yatra is the holy pilgrimage to the ancient abode of Lord Shiva situated in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Amarnath cave, nearly 5000 years old, is 141 km from the mainlands of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Sri Amarnath is also one of the 51 Shakti-Peeths that are situated throughout South-Asia.

Among all the Hindu deities, Lord Shiva is extremely popular, the shrines of lord shiva can be found in every part of India.

The forms of Lord Shiva differs from one place to another though commonly Lord Shiva is in the Lingam form.

In the Amarnath Yatra, pilgrims endure the harsh climate and the difficult terrain to pay their obeisance to  Lord Shiva in the Lingam form.

The Lingam is made of snow inside a 40 m holy cave of Baba Amarnath.

The Lingam is a self-made (Swambhu) and it changes its shape in accordance with the movement of the Moon.

Every year in summers in the month of July and August, thousands of pilgrims visit the holy cave of Amarnath.

Amarnath Yatra is a place of faith for over 1 billion Hindus and is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Hinduism.

Amarnath Yatra 2021

Amarnath Yatra 2021 will start from 28 June to 22 August. 

Proper Covid-19 precautions should be followed as issued by the government. 

Registration of Amarnath Yatra 2021

You can register yourself for the Amarnath Yatra from April 1 through 446 registration Centres located in every State and UTs of India. 

The registration can be done in the branches of Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the branches of Yes Bank all over India. 

History 

As in the case with all the major shrines of the Hindu pilgrimage, there is a divine tale linked with the pilgrimage and Baba Barfani's Yatra is no different.

1. Amarnath Cave was discovered by a shepherd named Buta Malik. Malik met a saint in the cave, who gave him a bag full of coal; when he reached home and opened the bag he was surprised to see the bag was full of gold. Buta Malik went back to thank the saint, but he found a Shiv Ling instead.

2. In Hinduism, it is believed that in the holy cave of Amarnath Lord Shiva narrated the secrets of immortality to his divine consort Goddess Parvati.

3. It is believed that while narrating, Goddess Parvati fell asleep and a pigeon's egg which is there in the cave became immortal and can be seen even now in the vicinity of the holy cave.

Yatra Mata Vaishno Devi

Amarnath Yatra Distance

• via Pahalgam (43 km) 

• via Baltal (11 km)

Amarnath Yatra Route 

There the two routes to Amarnath Yatra Cave : 

• Pahalgam  
• Baltal 

Pahalgam

Pilgrims mostly prefer the Pahalgam route which was used by Lord Shiva in his commute to the holy cave.

Moreover, in the route via Pahalgam, various other pilgrimage sites also come.

1. The journey by foot starts from Pahalgam which is 96 km from Srinagar. It is believed that Lord Shiva left Nandi ji, his bull here.

2. Chandanbadi, which is 16 km from Pahalgam where Lord Shiva sacrificed the moon from his head, giving the name Chandanbadi to the place, Moon then waited for Lord Shiva's return.

3. Sheshnag Lake which is 12 km from the Chandanbadi, it is believed that Lord Shiva left the serpent from his neck near Sheshnag.

4. Lord Shiva left his son, Lord Ganesha at Mahagunas Hills. The five elements, the Air, Water, Fire, Earth and the sky were left by him at Panjtarni. 

 Patnitop Hill station Jammu 

Baltal

The Baltal route is no doubt the shortest one to the cave, however, the devotees prefer the Pahalgam route because of the ancient belief that the same route was taken by Lord Shiva during his journey.

Moreover, the Baltal route has very steep gradients which are difficult to trek for most of the pilgrims.

The Northern Baltal route followed by Domel, Barari and Sangam is along the Amarnath valley and one can see the river Amravati, a tributary of river Chenab, which originates from the Amarnath Glacier.

Amarnath Yatra Prerequisites 

Amarnath Yatra, a spiritual quest into the abodes of Lord Shiva in the mighty Himalayas is often challenging.

Children below the age of 13 and adults above  75 years are not allowed because of the various challenges in the trek of Shri Amarnath.

Also, before Yatra, a health certificate is provided by the authorities for each individual.

You can check out more details about the Yatra on Sri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) website