Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Friday laid the foundation stone of the office-cum-yatri niwas of the Shrine Board here which would provide best-in-class facilities to the devotees of Shri Amarnathji, an official said.
The facility is being built over 25 kanal of land at Pantha Chowk in the outskirts of the city.
An official spokesman said the facility is expected to be completed in 18 months and the Yatri Niwas could accommodate more than 3000 pilgrims.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lieutenant Governor, who is also the Chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, said the project is aimed at ensuring a comfortable stay for Shri Amarnathji visitors at Srinagar who come from all over the world for the annual pilgrimage.
It will also act as an information centre for the guidance of pilgrims, he said, adding many similar works would be completed for the smooth conduct of the yatra.
The government of J-K is initiating various services, along with the infrastructural development to provide a memorable experience to millions of devotees of Shri Amarnathji, the Lt Governor said.
We are planning to construct Yatri Niwas in various parts of the UT (union territory), besides a permanent office and a bigger Yatri Niwas will soon come up at Jammu to facilitate a large number of visiting devotees, he said.
Another Yatri Niwas with the capacity to accommodate 3,200 yatris is coming up at Chanderkote of Ramban district, he added.
Sinha said that with modern facilities and conducive environment being created, the day is not far when the Yatris visiting Shri Amarnathji shrine would cross the 10 lakh mark which will make a greater impact on the economy of J-K.
A study is also being conducted for exploring the feasibility of setting up a ropeway at Shri Amarnathji Shrine, he said.
Nitishwar Kumar, the Chief Executive Officer of the Board, termed the project a historic development.
The CEO highlighted the recent developments made by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) for facilitating the yatris.
The Shrine Board has brought darshan, hawan, and prasad facility under the virtual mode where the devotees of Lord Shiva from across the world can perform online virtual puja and Hawan at the Holy Cave, and priests at shrine would offer it in the devotees’ name.
Prasad will be subsequently delivered at the doorsteps of the devotees, he said.
Kumar said for the first time, we have a 24×7 dedicated portal wherein the devotees can watch the live darshan of Holy Ice Lingam uninterruptedly through the Jio-TV live streams .
These steps have been initiated in the wake of the cancellation of this year’s Yatra, the CEO SASB said.
Earlier, the Lieutenant Governor launched the “Shri Amarnath Ishwaram”, a signature video song on Shri Amarnathji and dedicated the same to the devotees of Shri Amarnathji on the auspicious occasion of Shravan Shivratri.
Released under the banner of T-Series, the video song was composed by Aman Pant, while devotees worldwide can experience the powerful Shiva mantra in the voice of renowned singer Sachet Tandon.
Popular Singer Sachet Tandon and Music Composer Aman Pant also joined through video conferencing and shared their experience of working on this devotional video song.
