JAMMU, INDIA, may 16, 2018 (Deccan Chronicle): Nearly 170,000 people have so far registered for the pilgrimage to cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, set to begin for a 60-day long period from Jammu on June 28. Over 169,000 pilgrims have been registered at various counters across the country and the registration is going on in full swing, officials associated with registration of the yatra said on Wednesday. Of these, 139,000 pilgrims have been registered across country, 28,516 pilgrims have been booked for yatra through helicopters apart from registration of 2,122 foreign tourists, they said.
The 60-day long annual yatra to the shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas will commence on June 28 and the yatra will be longer by 20 days this year. Yatra will culminate on Raksha Bandhan day on August 26. The registration is being done at 440 branches of the Punjab National Bank, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and the YES Bank across the country. No person below the age of 13 years or above 75 years is registered even though he or she might have obtained the compulsory health certificate.
Just as a big banyan tree sprouts from a tiny seed, so the wide universe with names and forms sprouts forth from the heart.
— Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), South Indian mystic
