Shri Amarnathji Yatra is considered to be the most sacred Hindu pilgrimages to Shri Amarnathji Cave which is a Hindu shrine located in Lidder Valley of J&K.  The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 mtrs and 141 Kms from capital city, Srinagar. Shri Amarnathji Cave is worldwide famous for the natural formation of stalagmite (Shiva Lingam) formed due to freezing of water droplets dropping from the roof of the cave onto the floor resulting in an upward vertical growth of ice. July to August is the permitted time for the pilgrimage as it is the only time when it is accessible. The beginning of the annual pilgrimage is marked by “Pratham Pujan”. There are two routes to Shri Amarnath Cave, one is via Anantnag-Pahalgam and the another one is via Sonamarg – Baltal.

Shri Amarnathji Yatra is for a specific period, commencing on an announced date on the auspicious day of Skandshasthi as per Hindu calendar and shall conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandan). The yatra was suspended in the year 2020 due to the abrogation of article 370 and 35A as there was a very high probability of terrorist attack. In 2021, the yatra got suspended due to COVID pandemic. This year yatra will be conducted after three years which will attract a large no of pilgrims to the Holy shrine. The Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnathji is managed by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), which was formed by the J&K State Legislature in the year 2000. Depending upon the present travelling capacity of the roads and tracks, availability of infrastructure and administrative facilities enroute it has been decided that 7500 pilgrims would be allowed to register for Shri Amarnathji Yatra – 2022 per day per route.

This yatra is in itself special because it would be the first yatra after a long gap of 2 years. Every year, thousands of pilgrims visit Shri Amarnathji Cave which holds a strategic place in J&K’s economy by providing economic benefits like employment to locals, promotion of state’s culture and tourism, foreign exchange, infrastructure development in the area and development of local industries like handicrafts and hand-looms which have placed this state always in the limelight at the nation’s interest.  The people of J&K are also ready to welcome the pilgrims from all over the world and looking it as an opportunity because fairly a large section of J&K is dependent on this yatra.

In the same way Additional security is the prime concern in this region during Yatra period specially has been well planned and under execution by security forces such as tagging of vehicles with Radio Frequency Identification tags for monitor of precise location and movement of the vehicles for pilgrimage to the holy cave. Latest technology are used to sanitize the area and the roads leading to the holy cave which includes drone hunting teams specially in choking points of the base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam. All forces includes Indian Army, Indian Air Force, NSG & paramilitary forces are inducted for making this pilgrimage to the holy cave of ‘Shri Amarnathji’ incident free as peaceful & a memorable for all.

Shri Amarnath Yatra is organised in the month of Shravan and commences from Pahalgam & Baltal on specified dates. This year Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2022 will commence on 30th June 2022 and Registration is expected to start from 11th April 2022.