The Amarnath Yatra this year will be conducted under stricter security measures, with pilgrims entering Jammu and Kashmir being escorted from Lakhanpur in Kathua district to the Bhagwati Nagar base camp. Only pilgrims reaching Lakhanpur between 6 am and 8 am will be escorted to Jammu under security cover, according to Inspector General of Police for Jammu Zone, Bhim Sen Tuti. Those arriving after 8 am will have to halt there for security reasons, as part of efforts to make security for the yatra even stronger than before. Pilgrims have been directed to travel only on the Jammu-Srinagar highway (NH-44) from Lakhanpur, which is the entry point to J&K from the Punjab side.
Their movement to Kashmir through alternate routes like the Udhampur-Dhar road or the Mughal Road will not be permitted in view of security reasons. However, mini-convoys of pilgrims will operate between Udhampur and Banihal under a fixed schedule. The yatra comes over a year after Operation Sindoor, in which Indian defence forces attacked terror camps across the Line of Control after terrorists attacked tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025.
Twenty-five tourists and a local man were killed in the attack. There have been reports of infiltration attempts from across the border this year, and encounters between security forces and militants in Kathua district last year. To ensure pilgrims’ safety, the Union Territory administration has made it mandatory for all pilgrims, including those travelling in their own vehicles, to join designated security convoys from Jammu.
While travel during the night has been banned, traffic police have also set a cut-off time for the yatra convoys to reach the base or transit camps on the route to Pahalgam and Baltal in the Kashmir Valley. The administration has made elaborate arrangements for secure accommodation for around 55,000 pilgrims between Lakhanpur and Banihal in Ramban district. Comprehensive arrangements have been made for all pilgrims arriving in the Jammu division, including facilities for accommodation, food and sanitation.
The first two batches of Amarnath pilgrims will be flagged off by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at Bhagwati Nagar base camp on the morning of July 2, and they will reach Pahalgam and Baltal, depending upon their chosen route to the Amarnath shrine in the Himalayas, the same evening. The 57-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine will commence on July 3 simultaneously from the traditional 48-km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and a shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
