The Amarnath Yatra is one of the sacred yatras for any Hindu and holds immense significance as it is said to be the place where Lord Shiva revealed the secret of immortality to Goddess Parvati. My family and I participated in the Yatra this year and wanted to share our journey for future yatris (pilgrims).

We were a group of 8 with 6 aged members (54 - 73) and 2 of us in our twenties. We had previously planned a Kashi Yatra by ourselves for 10 days, including 4 days in Jammu & Kashmir with Vaishno Devi. Similarly, we planned the Amarnath Yatra ourselves without opting for a tour package or travel agent. Our itinerary included a trip to the Sharda Mandir in the Teetwal LoC, bordering PoK. In this blog post, I will be mostly covering our Amarnath Yatra and some of our findings to help future yatris plan better. We had members complete the yatra from both Pahalgam and Baltal in various forms of transport - trek, horse back, helicopter and palki.

Itinerary

Day 1 - 13th July:

• We took a flight from Bengaluru to Srinagar with a layover in Delhi from 07:00 to 13:10
• We had booked a Tata Sumo Gold to pick us up from Srinagar airport at 14:00 and travel for 6 hrs towards Teetwal. We reached teetwal at 22:00 due to various security check posts on the way.
• The journey to Teetwal requires an ePass. The entire Teetwal Yatra is well documented in the shardakashmir.com website.

Day 2 - 14th July:

• We started our day early at 07:00 with darshan at Sharda Teetwal Mandir and Kishenganga Ghat. After breakfast, we left Teetwal at 09:00 and reached Srinagar at 16:00.
• Our group split on the outskirts of Srinagar city since LMV vehicles are not allowed inside a few areas of the city during the Yatra season. 2 of us went to TRC to start our journey towards Pahalgam, while the rest of the group continued in the same vehicle towards Baltal.
• However, due to security restrictions, no vehicles are allowed to leave Srinagar after 15:00. We re-grouped and headed towards the base camp at Pantha Chowk in Srinagar.

Pantha Chowk Base Camp

• The base camp in Pantha Chowk has 3 kinds of accommodation - free tents, dormitory (100 INR per head and 12 in a dormitory) and private rooms (1000 INR per room for 3-4 members). The private rooms and dormitory offerings were started this year (2024) and are extremely clean with lots of vacancies. The private rooms have a security deposit of 1000 INR per room, which is refunded once the rooms are vacated. Private rooms/dormitory booking will require the Amarnath Yatra permit.
• Once you enter the base camp, you are not allowed to leave the base camp for continuing the Yatra i.e., crossing the Srinagar border after 17:00 as per the military rules. However, you can leave for local sightseeing or to catch a flight back home.
• Each group must register themselves once they enter the base camp along with their vehicle details if they are parking the vehicle overnight at the camp.
• All Yatris will require an RFID card for the Yatra. The RFID card can be obtained at the Pantha Chowk base camp or the Pahalgam base camp or the Baltal base camp. At the Pantha Chowk base, RFID cards are issued between 09:00 and 17:00. One will require the Amarnath Yatra Permit for obtaining the RFID card.
• There are multiple langars serving free food to yatris inside the base camp.

Day 3 - 15th July:

• All vehicles, whether pre-booked or shared taxis, will only be allowed to leave Pantha Chowk after 07:00 along with a military convoy.
• The convoys start in the following order - Baltal, Jammu and finally, Pahalgam. If the vehicle is pre booked and parked inside the Pantha Chowk base camp, it must be registered as part of the convoy and wait in a queue for the convoy. It is recommended to be early, before 07:00 and join the queue as early as possible.

Journey to Pahalgam

• Since we did not have a vehicle for the Pahalgam members, we had to stand in a queue for the shared taxi that would be arranged by the military. All shared taxis towards Pahalgam have a fixed rate of 4000 INR, irrespective of the number of members in the taxi. The total needs to be shared between the riders.
• Since the Pahalgam convoy is the last among the 3 convoys, we left the Pantha Chowk base camp around 07:45 after the other 2 convoys. We reached Pahalgam around 10:45 after a tea stop on the way.

Journey to Baltal

• If one does not have their own vehicle, the fixed rate for Baltal shared taxis is 5000 INR from Pantha Chowk, Srinagar.
• 6 members from our group reached Baltal in our pre-booked vehicle and as part of the convoy, around 07:00. We reached Sonamarg around 10:00 and checked into the hotel we had booked for the night stay.
• We then reached Baltal to get our RFID cards for the Yatra, which was a time consuming activity since they did the KYC for all of us. The price for the shared taxi from Sonamarg to Baltal was 400 INR.

Pahalgam to Seshnag

Recommended things to carry for the trek

• Thermals for overnight stay
• Extra pair of socks
• Gloves for overnight stay
• Beanie for overnight stay
• Sunscreen
• Baseball Cap
• Scarf / Mask
• Windsheater / Fleece-lining jacket
• Medicine for headache/painkillers, etc.
• Lightweight Water bottle (You can fill it in every camp)

Ensure that the baggage is lightweight with only essential items since the trek can be exhausting.

Trek

• We did not have our RFID cards issued in Pantha Chowk since we arrived at the base camp after the counter had closed. We got our RFID cards issued at the Pahalgam base camp and started our trek towards the holy cave.
• There are tents available at the Pahalgam base camp for overnight stay.
• The journey to Chandanwari (16kms) from Pahalgam can either be hiked or through a shared taxi/bus. We learnt that the checkpost on the outskirts of Pahalgam and towards Chandanwari closes at 11:00. Hence, we opted for the last shared taxi service to Chandanwari for 250 INR (actual price is 200 INR or lower).
• The shared taxi stops 2 kms before the Chandanwari base camp. The trek from Chandanwari base camp to Pisu Top is extremely steep and energy draining.
• There are camps and langars in the following places on the way to the Amarnath Holy Cave. Not all camps have tents for overnight stay. All camps have langars for food and refreshments.
  • Pahalgam (Tents)
  • Chandanwari
  • Pisu Top
  • Zojibal
  • Seshnag (Tents)
  • Waval Top
  • Maha Gunas (MG) Top
  • Poshpathri
  • Panjtarni (Tents)
  • Sangam Top
  • Holy Cave

• We reached Seshnag around 18:00 and had to camp there since we were not allowed any further for the day. The tents for 2 cost 1050 INR. These are fixed rates and require purchase of a slip. The slips provide shared accommodation. If one requires a personal tent, that is purchased at an additional cost, paid to a local on the site. We paid 400 INR for a tent that accommodates 2, on top of the 1050 INR paid.

Day 4 - 16th July:

Trek from Seshnag to Holy Cave to Baltal

• We started our journey early at 05:00, however, we were only allowed to leave the Seshnag camp at around 05:45. We reached Wavbal (4 kms) around 07:30 and decided to hire a pittoo to carry our bags since we had over-packed.
• The trek from Seshnag to MG Top is steep and tiresome. After MG Top, the journey is downhill / flat till Panjtarni and can be done without breaks. We stopped at Poshpathri for breakfast and reached Panjtarni at 11:30. One can take a bath in the Ganga river flowing at Panjtarni.
• The checkpost at Panjtarni closes at 14:00 and the holy cave closes at 17:00. We reached the Sangam Top at around 14:30. We took a dip in the ice cold river flowing there before having the darshan at the Amarnath Holy Cave.
• The journey from Sangam Top to the Holy Cave is also steep and hard due to the quick rise in altitude and low oxygen. There are no horses available but palkis who can carry you to the top. Senior citizens from our group opted for this. One will need to leave their phones, bags, leather wallets and footwear outside the holy cave. The 2 of us who trekked with a pittoo, left our belongings with the pittoo at Sangam Top, so that we do not have to wait in line for the baggage counter. However, the trek from Sangam Top to the Amarnath Holy Cave can be hard to do on bare foot with the stony path and ice patches on the way. Unfortunately, the linga had melted when we had our darshan but the Parvathi Maa ice formation was still visible. Be sure to look for the 2 white pigeons that are part of the Amarnath legend.

• Once we completed the darshan at the holy cave, we started our descent towards Baltal. There are no overnight tents after Panjtarni. If one misses the darshan before 17:00, they will have to make their way down either towards Baltal (14 kms) or Panjtarni (6 kms). The path towards Baltal has a Kali Mandir on the way, which is not a complete building but a shrine on the way. The path is dusty and the wind can often blow the dust towards you. Be prepared with a mask or scarf covering the face and hair. The journey is mostly downhill except for a total of 2.5 kms uphill.

• At the bottom of the Baltal route, we will have to submit the RFID cards and proceed towards the Baltal base camp for stay or exit. There are free bus services or paid shared auto services from the bottom to the base camp (6+ kms). We reached the Baltal base camp at around 19:00. One has to reach the Baltal base camp before 18:00 to avail a shared taxi towards Sonamarg. After 18:00, one can only avail a full taxi irrespective of the number of members for 1200 INR.

• We had booked hotel rooms in Sonamarg at Hotel Mehran, where we stayed the night. There are restrictions for travel after a certain time (around 17:00) towards Sonamarg but we were allowed since we had reserved rooms at the hotel in Sonamarg. One will have to show the room booking to the military personnel on the way after 18:00.

Baltal to Holycave to Baltal

• 5 out of the 6 members starting from Baltal had booked Helicopter tickets from Neelgranth to Panjtarni. The helicopter tickets were for the 09:00-12:00 slot for ascent and the 15:00-18:00 slot for descent. However, we learnt that the tickets were modified by the operator and the actual ticket was for the 09:00-12:00 slot for ascent on 16-07-2024 and the 06:00-09:00 slot for descent on 17-07-2024.
• 5 of them reached Panjtarni via the helicopter and started their journey towards the holy cave on horseback till Sangam Top. At Sangam Top, they hired a palki for the stretch towards the holy cave.
• 3 of them were able to descend to Neelgranth on the same day, thanks to special requests made. However, 2 of them had to stay overnight at Panjtarni in a shared tent for 1500 INR (750 INR per head). The 2 of them headed downhill via the helicopter the next day at 06:00.
• 1 of the 6 members completed their yatra on horseback from Baltal to Holycave and back down on horseback (prices as per the Amarnath Shrine Board).

• All of them reached the Sonamarg hotel for the overnight stay except the 2 who stayed in Panjtarni.

Day 5 - 17th July:

• Once the 2 members who stayed overnight at Panjtarni returned, we started our journey towards Srinagar Pantha Chowk base camp in a Tavera for 4800 INR including a stop at Kheer Bhawani Temple on the way. We reached the base camp at around 14:30.
• We booked the private rooms at the Pantha Chowk base camp once again and stayed the night there.
• Some of us went to Lal Chowk in the evening around 16:30. There are no restrictions to leave the Pantha Chowk Base Camp for local travel.

Day 6 - 18th July:

• We had our flight to Bengaluru from 09:35 to 13:05 and we left the Pantha Chowk base camp early at 06:00. We were allowed to leave the base camp at 06:00 since we had a flight to catch. However, no one is allowed to leave the camp before 07:00 as per the military rules at the base camp.

Overall, we had a wonderful experience undertaking the Yatra by ourselves with lots of learning. We hope that this blog post can help any future yatri undertaking the Amarnath Yatra, even if the prices or the timings mentioned might not be the same. We hope to go on the Yatra once again in the future. Thank you for reading and please feel free to reach out at contact@rahasya.net for any queries about the blog post or the Yatra in general.