Amarnath Yatra ends in J-K

JAMMU - The nearly two-month long annual Amarnath Yatra concluded on Tuesday with over four lakh fifty-six thousand devotees paying obeisance at the cave shrine of Lord Shiva.

No untoward incident was reported during the Yatra, although the pilgrims were caught in stone pelting incidents at times.

It has been reported that with the end of this annual pilgrimage, 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 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 from July 1.

This year over 115,000 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 walk and proceed astride ponies or in palanquins to the cave - situated at an altitude of 3,800 meters, 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. (ANI)