Srinagar July 01: The Shri Amarnath Yatra has started in the Kashmir valley, and thousands of pilgrims have already taken the blessings of Lord Shiva. The 55-day-long Amarnath Yatra began on June 29 and is set to conclude on August 19.
Most of the pilgrims are reaching the base camp by traveling in vehicles from various routes, including Pahalgam. Many pilgrims are reaching Srinagar by plane. However, this year also, some pilgrims, devotees of Lord Shiva, have come to the pilgrimage in a unique way.
A pilgrim named Datta Suryawanshi, hailing from Maharashtra, has started his cycle journey to reach the holy cave, and on Monday, July 1, he reached Srinagar. Waving the Tricolor on a bicycle at Avantipora on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, Datta told ITV Network Before this yatra, I also performed the Kedarnath yatra by cycle, and I get immense joy when I do yatra by cycle.
Datta told us that I travel 40 km a day, and since I left Maharashtra today, it has been 30 days. I am working in a hotel in Maharashtra, and I have a wife and a child at home. “After taking the blessings of Lord Shiva, I will return to my home in Maharashtra,” he added.
If a person desires something, then God also helps him in it, and the same thing happened to me,” quipped Datta Suryawanshi. “I made up my mind, and God supported me, and only due to his grace was it possible to reach Srinagar on a bicycle,” he added.
The distance between Maharashtra and Srinagar is around 2000 kilometers. The pilgrims approach the Himalayan cave shrine either from the traditional south Kashmir Pahalgam route, which involves an uphill trek of 43 kilometers from the Pahalgam base camp, or from the north Kashmir Baltal base camp, which involves a 13-kilometer uphill trek.