SRINAGAR, INDIA, May 12, 2001: The Amarnathji Shrine Board is managing the yearly Amarnath pilgrimage for the first time. It is busy providing finishing touches to the arrangements and has made some major changes in the system of the yatra. The month-long pilgrimage is slated to start on July 4, and the first batch of “registered pilgrims” shall leave Jammu on July 2. They will have darshan of the ice lingam on July 5, according to a tentative schedule. The board was set up at the recommendation of a government commission after the August, 1996, tragedy, when 225 pilgrims were killed in massive snow-storm and avalanches. Although the pilgrimage has gone on for centuries, the highest number of pilgrims to have visited the cave was last year, when 173,000 people turned up.
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