Registration of pilgrims for Amarnath Yatra to start on April 1

Registration for the upcoming annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir will start from April 1. The 56-day yatra to the 3,880-metre-high shrine is scheduled to start from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal on June 28 and culminate on August 22.

This was disclosed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Nitishwar Kumar. He said, registration will be done through 446 designated bank branches of the Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and YES Bank all over the country. Mr Kumar said details about the procedure for registration, application form and state-wise list of bank branches with complete addresses are available on the board’s website. He said, only health certificates that are issued by doctors or medical institutes authorised by state governments or union territory administrations will be accepted at the registered bank branches.

The CEO said, the certificates are mandatory as the shrine is at a very high-altitude and the journey is arduous. He said, for the Yatra-2021, only those health certificates which have been issued after March 15 will be valid.

The steps which yatris need to follow in order to register for the yatra, have been put on the board’s website www.shriamarnathjishrine.com. Mr Kumar said people under the age of 13 years or above the age of 75 years and women who are more than six weeks pregnant will not be registered for this year’s yatra as per COVID-19 norms.