Jammu: With the arrival of the holy mace (Chharri Mubarak) of Lord Shiva at Amarnath, the two-month long pilgrimage came to an end on Tuesday. Over 4,56,000 devotees paid
obeisance at the cave shrine. No untoward incident was reported during the yatra, although
the pilgrims were caught in stone pelting incidents at times. As the annual pilgrimage ended,
the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, who were deployed for security
purpose here for the past two months will return to their camps. The CRPF had deployed 50
companies comprising 6,250 men and officers, while the Army had set up 97 area
domination posts in and around the cave shrine in Lidder Valley, besides Pahalgam and along
the route in Anantnag, Ramban and Udhampur districts. The pilgrimage to Amarnath from the
Pahalgam-Chandanwari route began on July 1. This year over 1,15,000 pilgrims registered
their names across the country for taking part in the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave. The
rush of tourists, however, declined this year with violence escalating in the Valley. During the
two-month-long annual pilgrimage, devotees walked and proceed astride ponies or in
palanquins to the cave - situated at an altitude of 3,800 metres, to pray at an ice stalagmite,
which gets formed every year, which they regard as symbol of Hindu god Lord Shiva. The
Amarnath cave shrine is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the main shrine is claimed to be over
5,000 years old.
