This yr's amarnath yatra, which started out on July 3 under tight security arrangements, has left many devotees in emotional distress, now not due to the treacherous course or biting bloodless, however due to what they saw (or did not see) in the holy shrine.
The certainly formed ice Shivling of baba Barfani, an iconic symbol of Lord shiva seems to be melting faster than ever before. Aaj Tak reporter Jitendra Bahadur Singh, who undertook the yatra with the first batch of pilgrims, pronounced a stark contrast as compared to preceding visits in 2018 and 2022. Lower back then, the Shivling stood tall at nearly 12-15 ft. But this year, simplest a 1.five to 2-foot formation was seen and it had already started out melting away.
Tent facilities across the shrine.
Dust, heat, AND MELTING GLACIERS
Digital camera visuals captured en path from Baltal to the amarnath shrine display the direction blanketed in dust. The as soon as-glacier-weighted down routes at the moment are dry and muddy. Devotees strolling, using mules, or being carried on palanquins have stirred up heavy dirt clouds. The intense heat in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly round Srinagar, appears to be worsening the melting of snow and ice.
In step with weather professionals and nearby officers, rising temperatures and a lack of snowfall in current years have notably reduced ice retention across the region.
VOICES FROM THE YATRA
Sanjeev Saurabh from Patna, a pilgrim who has taken the amarnath yatra annually for the past 15 years, become deeply moved.
"inside the early years, Baba's ice form stood 12 to fifteen feet excessive majestic and spiritually overwhelming. However this time, I slightly saw some feet of ice. It seems like Lord shiva is withdrawing. Human beings say it is global warming. I sense it's a end result of declining human values throughout the globe," he stated, maintaining lower back tears.
"once we needed woolens to even enter the shrine; now we will stroll in wearing a skinny shirt. I did the abhishek (ritual bathing) of my lord with tears."
Vishal Jain, a businessman from Delhi, echoed similar concerns.
"This 12 months, I did not feel the chill I used to. The whole path was dusty due to the mules. The snow, which used to cover the entire path, is broadly speaking gone. I reached the shrine in just a thin tracksuit and was covered in dust. I saw slightly any Shivling, only a fading patch of ice."
Pix of direction even as going to the shrine.
FORMER IPS OFFICER SHARED floor reality
Raja Babu Singh, former IG of BSF (Kashmir) who supervised the safety arrangements along each the Baltal and pahalgam routes in 2022, shared his observations.
"there has been a seen reduction in blizzard in current years. In advance, the whole direction was untouched, herbal terrain. These days, due to heavy troop deployment, helicopter site visitors, and lakhs of pilgrims, the surroundings is beneath excessive strain. Climate exchange has handiest worsened the situation."
3 a long time OF WITNESS: VETERAN PILGRIM SPEAKS
Ravindra Kumar Sharma, chief customer of Shiv Bhakti Seva accept as true with in Rohini, Delhi, has been journeying amarnath on the grounds that 1996 and has had forty darshans of baba Barfani. He notes drastic modifications over time.
"within the past due '90s and early 2000s, the Shivling might stay for 35-forty days and stand as tall as 16 ft. Nowadays, it melts inside per week. In advance, only some hundred pilgrims could visit. Now, the range has swelled to over 7.5 lakh annually. Helicopter traffic has additionally expanded. Even as the Shri amarnath Shrine Board has made the adventure simpler with progressed infrastructure, it has also extended environmental degradation."
This year, extreme heat and absence of rain similarly worsened situations. Dust storms plagued the trail, and even in Srinagar, pilgrims noted summer time-like heat, forcing them to put on half of-sleeve shirts in preference to woolens.
Image of the go out route after the darshan.
Is that this NATURE warning?
The speedy disappearance of the holy Shivling has left devotees with a deep sense of loss and worry. Whether or not it's the end result of weather alternate, over-tourism, or a deeper non secular disconnect, the symptoms are unmistakable: baba Barfani is melting faster than ever earlier than.
As pilgrim sanjeev Saurabh warns, "It feels like Mahadev is set to open his third eye. It is time we correct our methods before it's too past due."
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