Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Services (JKPSC)

• 06 Mar 2025

Amarnath Yatra 2025

Why in News? 

The 38-day annual Amarnath pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine in South Kashmir will begin on 3rd July 2025. 

 Key Points 

• Board Meeting and Decision: 
  • The Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board (SASB) held its 48th board meeting at Raj Bhawan under the chairmanship of Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha. 
  • The board decided that the 38-day Amarnath Yatra will commence on 3rd July, 2025, and conclude on 9th August, 2025 (Raksha Bandhan). 
  • The pilgrimage will begin simultaneously from both routes – Pahalgam track (Anantnag district) and Baltal (Ganderbal district). 
• Enhancing Facilities for Pilgrims: 
  • The board discussed improving facilities and services for devotees. 
  • Measures were proposed to increase lodging capacity at centres in Jammu, Srinagar, and other key locations. 
  • Plans were made to operationalize yatri facilitation centres for e-KYC (Know Your Customer), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) card issuance, and on-spot registration at Nowgam and Katra railway stations. 
  • Similar facility enhancements were recommended at Baltal, Pahalgam, Nunwan, and Pantha Chowk Srinagar. 
• Infrastructure and Safety Measures: 
  • The ongoing infrastructure projects and their progress were reviewed. 
  • The L-G stressed ensuring adequate arrangements and essential amenities along the pilgrimage route. 
  • The meeting discussed decongestion measures at the holy cave and lower cave area. 
• Security, Medical, and Logistics Enhancements: 
  • The board deliberated on disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies. 
  • Adequate Helicopter services and medical facilities will be provided. 
  • Enhancements in weather forecasting infrastructure and security arrangements were also discussed. 

 Radio Frequency Identification 

 

• RFID is a type of passive wireless technology that allows for tracking or matching of an item or individual. 
• The system has two basic parts: Tags and Readers.  
  • The reader gives off radio waves and gets signals back from the RFID tag, while the tag uses radio waves to communicate its identity and other information. 
  • A tag can be read from up to several feet away and does not need to be within the direct line-of-sight of the reader to be tracked.  
• The technology has been approved since before the 1970s but has become much more prevalent in recent years due to its usages in things like global supply chain management and pet microchipping. 

 Amarnath Cave Shrine 

• The Amarnath mountain features a cave on its south famously known as the Amarnath Cave. This cave is the location of the Amarnath Temple, a significant Hindu shrine situated in the Pahalgam tehsil of the Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir, India. 
  • The shrine is perched at an altitude of 3,800 metres, contributing to the challenging nature of the pilgrimage. 
• Amarnath Peak, a part of the Himalayas is a mountain with a peak elevation of 5,186 meters, in the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir, in the vicinity of Sonamarg. 
• Amarnath yatra is an annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave, where devotees pay homage to an ice stalagmite believed to be the lingam of Lord Shiva. 
  • The ice stalagmite forms every year during the summer months and reaches its maximum size in July and August, when thousands of Hindu devotees make an annual pilgrimage to the cave.