Online helicopter booking for Amarnath Yatra to start from June 1

Jammu, May 29: The online helicopter booking for this year's Amarnath Yatra will start on June 1, officials said on Wednesday.

The rates for the helicopter service to and from the Himalayan cave shrine, located 3,888 metres above sea level, will soon be announced by the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), headed by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, which manages the annual yatra.

This year, the yatra will be 52 days long, starting on June 29 and concluding on August 19, and advance registration of pilgrims has already started on April 15.

As many as 125 ‘Langars’ (community kitchens) have been allowed to be set up along the two routes - the shorter one from Baltal base camp in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district or the longer but traditional one from Pahalgam base camp in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.

The shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon and devotees believe that it symbolises the deity.