Srinagar, Aug 24: The annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath concluded today. A batch of 124 Yatries had darshan at the Himalayan cave shrine in South Kashmir district of Islamabad today morning, marking the end of the two-month long pilgrimage that started amid outbreak of mass agitation over unending spree of civilian killings in the state.
Notwithstanding the speculations owing to the simmering situation in Kashmir and spoil sport played by the torrential rains, the Yatra broke many previous records with the number of devotees who paid obeisance at the shrine this year crossing the ambitious mark of 4.55 lakh.
If sources are to be believed, with the inclusion of the last batch of 124 including, 109 male, 13 female and 2 children, that left for the cave shrine yesterday, the total number of the pilgrims who had Darshan of the ice lingam this year concluded at 4,56,634.
This was despite the fact that the pilgrimage started when a fresh spate of unrest triggered by series of civilian killings was dominating the atmosphere in the Kashmir Valley.
During the two months the pilgrimage was disrupted for a couple of times by the incessant rains and inclement weather conditions, but did not witness any major interruption due to protests. Instead the pilgrims coming back from the valley said that the pilgrim fleets were given safe passage even when the tempers over the frequent killings were running very high across the valley.
The pilgrimage route passed through some of the areas worst affected by violence like parts of Srinagar, Sangam and Bijbehara on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Before the pilgrimage began, the government brought in additional 3,000 Border Security Force (BSF) personnel to strengthen security for pilgrims, after three youths were killed in Islamabad town by police.
Separatist leaders assured the pilgrims that they were guests of the people of Kashmir and “no harm would come to them.”
“Kashmiri Muslims have their own problems. But they did not cause any problem to us,” said Archit Mangotra, who undertook the pilgrimage.
The Governor, N. N. Vohra, who is also the Chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, was scheduled to visit the Holy Cave this morning along with R. K. Goyal and Saugat Biswas, the Chief Executive Officer and the Additional Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, respectively, but could not do so owing to heavy rains and inclement weather conditions.
The Governor, expressing satisfaction over the smooth conduct of this year’s Yatra, complimented each of the concerned Departments of the State Government, Army, CRPF, BSF, State Police, BSNL, J&K Bank, and all other concerned organizations, and particularly the people of the State for making the Yatra a satisfying and memorable experience for thousands of pilgrims, who visited the Holy Shrine this year over the past 55 days.
He had a special word of praise for the close synergy between the Security Forces, the Civil and Police Administration, all the stakeholders, the local population and the Shrine Board in ensuring a hassle free Yatra.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST