Amarnath Yatra 2024

                                                                  Shri Amarnath Yatra 

- "Bhuke ko aann, pyase ko Pani, Sab milke bolo, Jai Baba Barfani" !!!     

   

Welcome banner at Srinagar airport for Amarnath Yatris :-) I was fortunate to do Amarnath Yatra in July 2024. This yatra holds immense significance as it is believed that Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathi visited this place. 

I started my journey from Delhi to Srinagar via Indigo Flight. It took me less than 90 minutes to reach Srinagar. I could enjoy beautiful views of the mountains before landing at Srinagar Airport. 

Glimpses of the mountains from the airlines as we were about to reach Srinagar. 

There are two ways to start the journey - Pehalgam route and Baltal. We took the Baltal route as it was shorter. It was 16 Kms one side one can return to base camp on the same day. On the way from Srinagar to Baltal, there were several mosques. The architecture was unique and nice. 

Mosque on the way to Baltal

The road drive was extremely beautiful as we were nearing Sonmarg. There was a river flowing next to the road and the air was fresh and cold. I could not stop myself from taking pictures of the beautiful mother nature. 

We did take some stops in between to spend time with the nature and enjoy the fresh mountain air which is not available in cities these days.  

We reached Baltal in the evening and decided to take some rest. We went walking to Domail gate later in the evening, this was the starting point of the trek that we had to start next day. The gate opens at 4 m in the morning. Yatris are no allowed to stay near Amarnath Gufa and it is advisable to start the journey earlier in the day so that they can return to base camp on the same day. 

On the way to Domail gate, there were various langar seva being offered by the sevadars. 

Sharing pictures of the langars that we found in Baltal, just before Domail gate. 

 

We had Turmeric Milk, Fritters, Pani Puri, in addition to a lavish dinner. The devotees offer selfless service to the visitors and do not charge even a single rupee for food or stay. This is amazing to see as they come here just to serve the visitors and stay here for two months serving them. This year the Yatra was open from June 29 - Aug 19. 

Hot Milk and Bread Pakoras 

After having wholesome dinner, we returned to our camp. The location was perfect as there was a river just flowing next to the camp and could hear the water sounds throughout the day and night. It was very soothing to be in the lap of nature. 

 We rested that night and prepared ourselves for the trek next day. It was an exciting day and we were also anxious of what is going to happen next day. It was going to be a dream come true, to be in Amarnath and to visit the Pavitra Gufa has been a long-time dream for me. We got up at 4:00 am next morning and left the camp by 4:30 am. 

We were excited and scared as well since we have heard that it is not so-easy a trek. We gathered courage and with full motivation, we started the trek.

The picture was clicked at 5:00 am when we just crossed domail gate i.e. the entry point of the trek. 

I must say that the terrain was indeed tough. I have clicked some pictures without tilting the camera to give an idea of how steep the climb was. We were tired after walking a few steps but did not loose heart. We continued chanting and our feet kept walking on their own. 

On the way, I took pictures of the views. There was snow, river, melting glacier, falling stones from the mountains, and everything that we can expect in a raw mountain climb. 

Can you try to identify the image of the Goddess in any of these pictures next to this message. 

On the way uphill, there was a natural rock formation. The Shrine Board has put this interesting board and we could also see some shape in the mountain. We stopped for a few minutes here and then continued our trek. 

After climbling almost 12 Kms, we saw a signboard which was like a lease of life for us. This was the below shared sign board where we could have a first glimpse of the Holy cave, though from a distance. It was still around 3 kms from this place but our target was within our reach and we started chanting slogans of "om namah shivay" and our feet picked up speed all of a sudden. 

As we moved forward, we could see the frozen ice. Yatris were taking pics standing next to it and there was cool breeze coming through this. We decided to stand a few minutes here to allow our sweat to evaporate, till the army personnel asked us to move away as this could break anytime and it was not safe to spend time here. 

As we were nearing the cave, we could see the other router (Gulmarg one) also. Both these routes connect 1 Km before the Holy cave. 

We were exhausted as we completed the trek and decided to have one picture before returning the RFID card to the Amarnath Shrine Board personnel. 

Just a few hundred meters before the cave, we could see snow on the mountains. 

There were almost 300+steps to reach the Holy cave. All electronic items were submitted and hence I do not have the pictures of the cave. I have taken one photo which I am sharing below. 

After spending almost 30 minutes in the Cave, we started our trek down. We were fortunate that there was not much crowd and hence we were able to spend so much time in the Pavitra Gufa. 

Once we were back from trek, I saw the smart watch to see that we had covered almost 29+ Kms in a day. It was nothing less than a surprise that I could walk so much in a single day. 

We took rest for the rest of the evening and woke up fresh next day ready to leave for Srinagar. It was a strange happiness that we could feel inside us as if we have achieved something in life. There was calmness and peace inside, which is difficult to be expressed in words. 

We left for Srinagar and on the way stopped for breakfast at Sonmarg. We did horse riding and saw various shooting points here. Famous bollywood movies like Bajrangi Bhai-jaan, Elan-e-Jung, LOC, Ram Teri Ganga Maili have been shot here. 

Elan-e-Jung Shooting Point

Enjoying the horse riding as we now knew how difficult it is to trek, especially when we had walking almost 30 kms just a day before. 

 

After spending around 3 hours in Sonmarg, we started for Srinagar. Srinagar has become a commercial city but the view of Dal Lake and House boats is still mesmerizing. We visited Lal Chowk first. The place has been completely safe and a shoppers' paradise now. Government has made it like a "mall road" in the hill stations. We clicked some pictures and also brought dry fruits and some Kashmiri clothes for our family. 

Next, we went to Shankaracharya Temple as it was open till 4;30 pm and we wanted to visit it due to its historical and religious significance. It is situation on a hill-top and there are 250 stairs. 

 

Shankaracharya Temple at the Hill top. 

Entire Srinagar was visible from this temple. This temple has been preserved by the ASI and is a monument of national importance. 

As we were coming back from the temple, we could see Dal lake. It is huge and spans across 18 sq kms. We spent some time walking next to the lake. 

As we went closer, we could the famous houseboats and Shikaras floating on the lake. 

We also did a relaxed shikara boat ride, but only after we had dinner. There were lot of cafes, restaurants, and eating joints to cater to the taste buds of everyone. There was also evening market which was set up till 10;30 pm in the night. We took a stroll around the lake. It was mesmerizing with lights all along the house boats and around the lake. 

     

Several famous Bollywood songs have been shot here such as Naseeb se from Satya Prem ki Kath, Bumro Bumro from Mission Kashmir to name a few. 

Before going to bed, I tried to check how many steps did we do to realize that even on next day of trek we did a good 20k plus step count. We realized that it is another hectic day for us and if we were to catch the flight next morning, we should call it for the day. 

We reached the hotel and had a sound sleep. Next day morning, we are happy and satisfied as we depart back to our hometown to unite with our families. We could not believe that all this was just done in less than three full days.

 Friends, take out time for yourself, rejuvenate, and get recharged. Life is short, enjoy it!!!