Amarnath Yatra 2025: Devotees of Baba Barfani can now start planning their Amarnath Yatra. The Amarnath Yatra 2025 will commence on July 3 and continue until August 9. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Shri Baba Amarnathji Shrine Board. This year, the Amarnath Yatra will last for 39 days.
Special arrangements will be made by the Trust and the government. Work has already begun to provide accommodation, langar (community kitchen food), and other facilities for the pilgrims. Security plans are also being chalked out.
The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, chaired the 48th board meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, March 5. It was decided that this year, the journey to the Baba Barfani shrine will commence simultaneously from both routes — the Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and the Baltal track in Ganderbal district on July 3 and will conclude on August 9 on Raksha Bandhan.
Baba Barfani is the name of a Shiva lingam made of ice at the Amarnath cave.
Who Attended Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board Meeting?
Swami Avadheshanand Giriji Maharaj and DC Raina were present at the meeting. The meeting was attended by Shrine Board members Kailash Mehra Sadhu, KN Rai, Pitambar Lal Gupta, Dr Shailesh Raina, and Professor Vishwamurti Shastri. The board proposed various measures and interventions to further improve the facilities and services for the devotees.
Deliberations On Pilgrim Facilities
Considering the potential increase in the number of pilgrims for the Amarnath Yatra 2025, the meeting considered increasing the accommodation capacity in Jammu, Srinagar, and other places. The officials also discussed operating passenger facilitation centres for e-KYC, issuing RFID cards, and measures for on-the-spot registration of pilgrims at several locations, including the Naugam and Katra railway stations.
Furthermore, it was discussed that pilgrim facilities should be increased in Baltal, Pahalgam, Nunwan, and Pantha Chowk in Srinagar as needed. Reviewing the progress of various works being undertaken by the departments, the Lieutenant Governor stressed the need to ensure adequate arrangements and requisite facilities at different locations along the Yatra route.
The officials also discussed appropriate insurance cover for pilgrims, service providers, and ponies, expansion of online services by the Shrine Board, widening and maintenance of the Yatra track, measures to reduce overcrowding in the holy cave and lower holy cave area, disaster preparedness, helicopter services, adequate provision of medical care facilities, weather forecasting infrastructure and systems, security and surveillance, and a digital prepaid system for hiring services.