Amarnath Yatra registration goes up to 1.35 lakh

Devotee is carried on a seat (PALKI) en route to Amarnath Cave at Domail Pass near Baltal during the annual Amarnath Yatra some 140 kms from Srinagar on 16 June 2009. File photo: Nissar Ahmad.

Registration of pilgrims for the annual Amamrnath yatra in south Kashmir Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up to 1.35 lakh, officials said.

“Over one lakh thirty five thousand pilgrims have been registered for the pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir Himalayas till Wednesday,” Jammu and Kashmir Bank officials said.

While, 85,000 pilgrims have registered through various J&K Bank registration counters, over 50,000 have registered on-line.

Giving the break up, they said nearly 75,000 pilgrims have registered for their yatra on Pahalgam-Amarnath route, while over 60,000 have registered for Baltal-Amarnath route till now.

The registration began at 121 branches of J&K Bank which is nodal agency for registration of pilgrims across the country, they said.

The yatra for the 3,888 meter high cave shrine will begin from July 1 and conclude on August 24, the day of Sharvan Purnima.

The yatra registration began on June 5 and will go on till August 20.

Over 3,73,419 pilgrims visited the cave shrine in 2009 and 4,98,075 pilgrims visited it in 2008.