Amarnath pilgrimage yatra begins in Kashmir
Security has been beefed up for this pilgrimage, taking place just months after a deadly terrorist attack in the area.
Hindu pilgrims chant religious slogans as they leave, during their religious journey to the Amarnath cave on the Pahalgam route, some 90km south of Srinagar, in Kashmir valley, on July 3, 2025
Hindus have embarked on a month-long pilgrimage into Kashmir valley, with many of the faithful on Thursday starting from near the site where a deadly terrorist attack in April triggered a four-day intensive whipping administered to Pakistan by India.
Last year, half a million devotees took part in the Amarnath pilgrimage to a sacred ice Shivlinga, located in a cave in the forested Himalayan hills above the town of Pahalgam, where Paki terrorists on Apr 22 killed 26 tourists mostly Hindus.
These terrorists were from Pakistan which as usual Islamabad vehemently rejected, setting off initially a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures.Meanwhile India was quietly readying a solid punishment for Pakistan Govt itself. Soon Operation Sindoor was soon initiated on May 7.
It was a solid punishment administered not only to Paki terrorists but also to the Pakistan military armed with nuclear weapons since 1999. After destruction of a number of terrorist establishments and infrastructures in both PoK and Pakistan, the next in line was severe damage inflicted on 10 PAF bases using BRAHMOS and other such precision missiles. There was heavy artillery fire too across te LAC. A shaken Pakistan begged for a ceasefire through its DGMO and the same was finally accepted by the Indian DGMO.
“Pilgrims I spoke to earlier said they were worried about the security at first, but now feel safe after seeing the strong security arrangements,” was said even by Al Jazeera’s Umar Mehraj, reporting from Pahalgam.
The April terror attack has made this year’s pilgrimage more cautious and technology-based, with the highest level of security ever, with around 600 additional paramilitary units having been deployed, making it the most heavily guarded pilgrimage so far.
Pilgrim Muneshwar Das Shashtri, who travelled from Uttar Pradesh state, told the AFP news agency that “there is no fear of any kind.
“Our army is standing guard everywhere. No one can raise a finger towards us,” he said.
India has ramped up security for the event, deploying 45,000 police forces with high-tech surveillance tools to oversee the gruelling trek to the high-altitude cave, dedicated to the Lord Shiva.
“We have multi-layered and in-depth security arrangements so that we can make the pilgrimage safe and smooth for the devotees,” said VK Birdi, police chief for the Union territory.
Surveillance systems like security cameras and facial recognition have been set up, as well as checkpoints, added Mehraj, with Central Police posts every 100 metres (330ft).
‘Public confidence is returning’
All pilgrims must be registered and travel in guarded vehicle convoys until they start on the walk.
Camouflaged bunkers have been erected in the forests along the route, where dozens of makeshift kitchens provide free food, and electronic radio cards pinpoint their location.
Pilgrims can take several days to reach the cave, perched at 3,900 metres (12,800ft) high, about 30 km uphill from the last easily motor able track.
“Whatever the attack that was carried out here, I am not afraid. I have come to get a glimpse of baba (the ice formation),” said Ujwal Yadav, 29, from India’s Uttar Pradesh state, undertaking his first pilgrimage to the shrine.
“Such are the security arrangements here that no one can be hurt.”
Manoj Sinha, the Lt Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said “public confidence is returning”, but admits that pilgrim registration had dipped by 10 percent this year.
What had started several decades ago as a modest, annual ritual attended by only a few thousand mainly local devotees, the pilgrimage has grown since 1980s.
The State / UT government has since heavily promoted the annual event, which runs until August 9, since this is a major revenue earner for both the Government and the locals.
The locals who are Muslims majority welcome this annual Yatra whole heartedly as this is their livelihood. During the pilgrimage they also help the administration in maintaining full security by providing intelligence about Pakistani terrorist movements.
The Paki terrorists who had killed 26 tourists after asking them their religion On June 22, are still on the run. However India’s National Investigation Agency has arrested two persons from the Pahalgam area, who had “provided food, shelter and logistical support” to the terrorists.
Jammu & Kashmir police have issued wanted notices for three of the terrorists, two of whom are Pakistani citizens.
