Amid tight security, Budha Amarnath yatra to begin on Friday

Jammu, Aug 17 (PTI) Amid tight security arrangements, the 10-day ‘Budha Amarnath’ pilgrimage in the mountainous district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir will begin on Friday with a flagging off of the first batch from Jammu.

Security has been beefed up across Poonch and Rajouri border districts ahead of the annual yatra which is scheduled to commence on August 18, officials said.

“The Budha Amarnath yatra will begin from tomorrow. The first batch of pilgrims will leave Jammu base camp at Bhagwati Nagar for its onward journey to the Himalayan shrine in Poonch early morning tomorrow amid tight security”, a senior official told PTI.

The ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ was performed in a traditional way on Thursday. A Bhajan Sandhya was also organised by the Sanskaar Bharti.

“A batch of 1,200 yatris will leave Jammu for Budha Amarnath tomorrow,” Bajrang Dal national convenor Neeraj Doneria told PTI.

He said high-level security measures have been put in place in Rajouri and Poonch to ensure peaceful and incident-free yatra.

All the boarding and lodging arrangements have been made by the administration, he said.

Sharing details about the yatra, Working President of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of VHP, Rajesh Gupta, said the programme held on Thursday was aimed to welcome the yatris coming from various parts of India. “All arrangements, including those relating to safety and security, have been made by the administration. We are confident to see a peaceful and incident-free yatra,” he said.

The Buddha Amarnath Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Rajpura village in Mandi tehsil of Poonch is one of the oldest shrines of the Jammu region and attracts huge rush of devotees during the yatra which concludes with the arrival of ‘Charri Mubarak’ (holy mace) at the shrine from Dashnami Akhara Poonch.

The River Pulsata flows by the temple, and is considered to be sacred where pilgrims take bath before entering the temple.

Thousands of devotees undertake the yatra every year to pay their obeisance at the famous shrine of Lord Shiva.

Police assisted by Army and CRPF personnel cordoned off more than a dozen villages in Gursai early Thursday morning for a thorough search operation, the officials said.