July 8 : On July 1, the Amarnath Yatra to the holy shrine commenced from both the Pahalgam and the Baltal roadways. The entire route was prepared ahead of the time within the Kashmir valley.
Large convoys of people are escorted with the support and guidance of the armed forces during the entire journey.
The Met Office had forecasted that the climate with be cloudy in both the above mentioned routes to the cave shrine of Amarnath.
Police officers have been instructed to not allow any traffic between the Srinagar to Jammu route while the yatris make their move through the Jawahar tunnel.
Also, the transport that carries Amarnath pilgrims will not be allowed to use the Mughal Road that happens to be the connection between Rajouri and Poonch districts
The Amarnath Festival is long 45 day long religious festival and it began in July 1 and will end by August 15, 2019.
On the first day morning, pilgrims will reach the Holy Shrine of Lord Shiva along with the festival of Chhari Mubarak. The last day, which is August 15 this time will coincide with the Shravan Purnima festival.
The beauty of the location is that the Amarnath Cave Shrine is located about 3888 metres above sea- level.
When pilgrims visit the place, they will come face to face with a beautiful ice stalagmite structure.
According to staunch devotees, they feel that this natural structure is in symbolising the mythical powers of the Lord Shiva.
Yatris engage in a tiresome journey either following the Baltal route or the Pahalgam route, and involves people to trek uphill. For those, who cannot do so, helicopter services are also provide at both the camps.
After the uphill 14 km trek from the Baltal base camp, the pilgrims can enjoy the divine presence with a ritualistic darshan and also return back to the Baltal camp on the same day.
The History of the Amarnath Yara dates back to 1850. the holy cave shrine was discovered by Buta Malik (a local shepherd). Devotees share folklore that elaborate about a Sufi saint who gifted the shepherd a bag of charcoal, which later turned into gold.
He and his family received this holy blessings for more than 150 years. People believe that they too will be blessed by the Holy power of Lord Shiva.