Amarnath Yatra Darshan

Amarnath Yatra Darshan History

Amarnath is the Hindu temple located in Jammu & Kashmir. This cave is situated at an altitude of 12,756 Ft. The cave is surrounded by the snow-capped mountains. The cave is covered with snow most of the year except for a short period of time in summer. The Amarnath Yatra every year begins in the month of July (Shravana Maasam) in the Hindu calendar. This is the only time in the whole year Lord Shiva appears in the earth in the unique from of an ice lingam.

Along with the ice lingam, 2 more ice lingams are formed which represent Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesh. Lord Shiva visits the cave on the Full Moon Day of Raksha Bandhan.

The responsibility of management of Amarnath Yatra has been taken by the Amarnath Shrine Board, which provides all kinds of facilities to the pilgrims on their way to Amarnath Cave.

History of Amarnath Cave:

The cave was discovered by a Buta Malik a shepherd, who met the saint here. The Saint gave him a bag of coal. When he reached home and opened the bag of coal, he was surprised because the coal was converted into gold coins. When Buta went to the saint to thank him, he saw the cave over there.

After Goddess Parvati insisted Lord Shiva to reveal the Secret of Immorality, Lord Shiva decided to proceed towards the cave as the story should not hear by any other living being, but there are 2 pigeon egg were there in the cave and it said that the pair of pigeons born from the egg had become immortal and can be seen even now in the cave.

Places To Visit Near Amarnath:

Pahalgam: While Lord Shiva took Parvati to the cave to tell the Story of Immorality, he first left Nandi – Place now called as Pahalgam, which is 92 KM from Srinagar.

Chandanbadi:

Lord Shiva did a very unique thing in Chandanbadi. Here Lord Shiva sacrificed the moon from his head. It is 16 KM from Pahalgam.

Pissu Top:

For the Darshan of Amarnath, there is a huge fight between the Gods and Rakshasas. With the help of Lord Shiva, the gods defeated the Rakshasas. The Pissu top was formed by the dead bodies of the rakshasas. Since then this place is called as Pissu Top with is ahead of Chandanbadi.

Sheshnag:

Sheshnag is the place 12 KM away from Chandanbadi. Here Lord Shiva had dropped the snake from his neck. A Lake of blue water is present, which proves that this is the place of Sheshnag.

Mahagunas Mountain:

This Mountain is at an altitude of 14,000 Ft. This is the place where Lord Shiva had left his son Ganesh. This place has many waterfalls and beautiful scenes. This is 5 KM ahead from Sheshnag.

Panchatrani:

It is at a height of 12,500 Ft; here Lord Shiva sacrificed the 5 Panchabhutas- Air, Water, Earth, Space and Fire. There is a confluence of five rivers here. It is believed that the five rivers flowing here which emerges out from the tangles of Lord Shiva hair.

Amarnath Yatra By Helicopter:

The Helicopter tour package is boarded from Baltal. Pilgrims are taken to Panjtarni, from where the devotees must trek a 6 KM to reach the holy place. The one way trip fare – Baltal to Panjtarni is Rs 1804 and from Pahalgam to Panjtarni is Rs 3104 per person including all taxes. The length of Pahalgam to Panjtarni is approximately 48 Km and Neelgrath to Panjtarni is 14 Km approximately.

Pilgrims who prefer to travel by Helicopter do not require advance registration as the Helicopter tickets are enough for this purpose. However CHC issued by authorised Doctor or the Institutes which have been notified by their respective State Governments is a must.

Amarnath Yatra Darshan Registration Process:

Registration and issue of Yatra Permit (YP) is done on first-come-first serve basis.
The registration commences from all bank branches on the prescribed date.
1 YP is valid for only 1 person.
Each Registration Branch has been allotted a fixed per day/ per route quota for Registering the Yatris.
No one below the age of 13 years or above the age of 75 years and no lady with more than six week’s pregnancy shall be registered for the Yatra.
Every person who is planning to visit Amarnath has to submit Application Form along with Compulsory Health Certificate (CHC) to obtain YP.
The Application forms and CHC are available free of cost to the Applicant Yatri by the Registration Branch.
To apply for the Yatra Permit, the Applicant-Yatri will submit the following documents to the Registration Officer:
Filled-in prescribed Application Form; and
Prescribed Compulsory Health Certificate (CHC) issued on or after the specified date by the Authorized Doctor/ Medical Institution.
Four passport sized photographs (three for Yatra Permits and one for the Application form).
The Registration Officer checks the following:
Whether the Application Form has been correctly filled-in and signed by the Applicant-Yatri;
Whether the CHC has been issued by the Authorized Doctor/ Medical Institution;
Whether the CHC has been issued on or after specified date.
The Registration Official shall issue Yatra Permits bearing BALTAL for Baltal Route and PAHALGAM for the Pahalgam Route. For each day and route, the Registration Officer issues Yatra Permits as per colour coding for last year given below:

Day	Color of Yatra Permit for Pahalgam Route.	Color of Yatra Permit for Baltal Route.
Monday	Lavender	Lemon Chiffon
Tuesday	Pink Lace	Blue
Wednesday	Beige	Honeydew
Thursday	Peach	Lavender
Friday	Lemon Chiffon	Pink Lace
Saturday	Blue	Beige
Sunday	Honeydew	Peach

The specific day on which a pilgrim is registered to undertake the Yatra is printed on the Yatra Permit. The day printed on the Yatra Permit is the day on which the Yatri will be allowed to cross the Access Control Gates (ACG) at Baltal and Pahalgam.
The bank branch has to ensure that the date for the YP for ACG matches with the day is printed on the YP before issuing the permit before issuing the YP.
In the YP forms, the Yatra year and the date of Yatra is pre-printed. Therefore, it is mandatory for the issuing Bank Branch to stamp / write the Yatra year and date of Shri Amarnath Yatra and paste the date and year with a transparent tape.
If the Application Form and CHC are in order, the Registration Officer shall issue an YP to the applicant against a payment per YP.
Before issuing the Yatra Permit to the applicant-Yatri, the Registration Officer shall record the following particulars:
Date of issue of Yatra Permit.
The Serial Number of Yatra Permit.
Name, address and telephone/ mobile number of the applicant-Yatri.
Name of next-of-kin of applicant-Yatri, to be contacted in case of any emergency.
Route of pilgrimage.
Date of embarking on the Yatra from Baltal/ Pahalgam.
Once the Registration process is over, the Registration Branch shall forward to the CEO, SASB, all the Application Forms and CHCs against which YPs have been issued.
The Registering Branch may register the Yatris after the normal banking hours.

Address:

Shree Amarnath Cave Temple, Baltal Amarnath Trek, Forest Block, Anantnag, Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir 192230.

How to Reach Amarnath:

Srinagar to Amarnath Cave – 145 KM.