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SRINIGAR, INDIA, June 7, 2005: The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has agreed to begin the two-month long Amarnath pilgrimage from June 21, setting aside the controversy over its duration, the state’s Governor, Lt. General (retired) S.K. Sinha said on Tuesday. “The pilgrimage from Baltal route would begin from June 21, and it would be for 60 days or two months. This time there would be no advance booking or registration for first the 15 days, whosoever comes for the pilgrimage would be allowed. In these 15 days, preference would be given to civilians,” Sinha told reporters here on the sidelines of a national integration camp. Controversy had brimmed over the pilgrimage’s duration as the state government decided to restrict it for a month sighting security reasons. The decision was taken after Sinha, who is also chairman of the Amarnath Shrine Board, met with state chief Mufti Mohammad Syed on Monday. A major part of the pilgrimage route has been cleared and work is on to clear the remaining portion of the track in another ten days. Last year, around 300,000 devotees went on the pilgrimage. Several times, militants have attacked the annual pilgrimage since the separatist revolt erupted in 1989. In 2002, eight Hindu pilgrims were killed in the attack on Nunwan camp in Pahalgam. Amarnath stands at a height of nearly 12,500 feet (3,888 metres) above sea level. The pilgrimage leads devotees through monsoon rain-swollen streams and past a glacier-fed lake to the cave where they worship an ice stalagmite, a naturally occurring Siva Lingam.



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