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| Dy CM flags off Buda Amarnath Yatra | | VHP international general secretary, Champat | Rai leads first batch 1088 pilgrims | |  Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 9: With Deputy Chief Minister flagging off the first batch of 1,088 yatris from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas early this morning the 10 day long annual Buda Amarnath yatra begins. The yatra will culminate on Sawan Purnima coinciding with Raksha Bandhan festival falling on August 18. The pilgrims drawn from different parts of the country participated in the first batch which was led by International general secretary VHP Champat Rai who reached here yesterday along with Bajrang Dal (BD) national Convener Rajesh Pandey to participate in the Bhoomi Poojan and other rituals held before the culmination of annual yatra here as per traditions.
The yatra left in a cavalcade of 33 vehicles and it will reach Poonch in the evening where from next morning the pilgrims will leave for darshan of Buda Amarnath in Mandi Tehsil of Poonch district.
Champat Rai and Rajesh Pandy have asked the Hindus of country to unite to make the Swami Amarnath and Buda Amarnath yatras fully success. They regretted that hurdles were created in the smooth running of Swami Amarnath yatra by the disruptive forces and Pak agents in the Valley saying the number of pilgrims decreased to a great extent this year as compared to previous years. However they resolved to continue the yatras of Hindu religious places and they will not be cowed down by terrorists threats.
Mr Rai recalled that it was the BD and VHP which took an onus to start both Swami Amarnath Yatra after the militants issued threats to pilgrims in nineties and Buda Amarnath yatra in 2005. The VHP and BD accepted the challenge and volunteered to provide security to pilgrims against militants. He said prior to 2005 when BD started the annual Amarnath yatra Hindus in Mandi area of Poonch district had started migration to other parts of Jammu due to terrorists threat. But with the start of this yatra pilgrimage to holy temple has become a round the year feature now and the Baba Amarnath and Buda Amarnath Yatri Niyas is only managing the yatra on the occasion of Sawan Purnima. The Hindus who had migrated from the area also returned to their homes and hearts and a peaceful atmosphere in the area prevails now, he added. Besides these two leaders the flagging off ceremony was attended by VHP State president , Leela Karan Sharma, Senior VHP leader, Dr Rama Kant Dubey, President BABAYN Surinder Mohan Aggarwal and civil and police officers. The yatra was given a tumultuous welcome after it reached Rajouri today. The first batch of 1,088 pilgrims including 642 males, 405 females and 41 children left the base camp early this morning in a convoy of 33 vehicles.
The pilgrims hailing from all over the country including 854 from Gujarat, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 109 from Bihar, 37 from Karnataka, 12 from Himachal Pradesh and 15 from other states left the base camp for paying obeisance at the holy shrine of Lord Shiva located in village Rajpura in tehsil Mandi of Poonch district.
Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy CM said that the yatra will proceed towards Poonch and then, the yatris will go to Shiv Khori.
Elaborating the arrangements put in place by the administration for the convenience of the yatris this year, Dy CM said that Government has taken various initiatives for promoting pilgrim tourism in the state. He also said that concerted efforts are afoot to improve infrastructural facilities at all places of tourist attraction across the state so as to harness the tourism potential of the unexplored tourism sites. |
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