The gushes of the Lidder river have turned into roars as the water rolls down the north-western Himalayan range. It runs 73 kilometres, flowing through the centre of the Pahalgam valley in south Kashmir’s Anantnag. The main tributary of the Jhelum river, it acquires its speed and noise from the melting snow up in the narrow troughs of the Kolahoi glacier located at an altitude of 17,799 feet. In the valley, it breathes between two mountains.
On its flat banks, Abdul Rehman Paddar, 64, is tending to his young white and brown horses between seven and 11 years old. Four of his horses are already up in the mountains in the service of pilgrims. These horses carry men and women on their backs, led by owners, to cover the arduous trek to the Amarnath cave shrine, located at an altitude of 12,756 feet. A pilgrim treks 30 km from the Chandanwari camp as the motorable road ends there. Some take horses.
The cave at Amarnath sees between four and six lakh pilgrims each year, according to official estimates. So far this year, 4.36 lakh people have arrived. Last year, there were 4.5 lakh pilgrims across the season. They come in with the belief that a particular stalagmite formed is a Shivling, a phallic symbol considered holy by those who practise Hinduism. Two smaller ones represent Parvati, his wife, and Ganesha, their child. The belief is that Shiva, the god of destruction, was telling his wife the secret to immortality, when two pigeons overheard them, and these are still seen flying around.
The Amarnath Yatra begins in the Hindu month of Shravan and usually ends by Shravan Purnima, which coincides with Raksha Bandhan. This year, the yatra began on June 29 and will extend to 52 days, one of the longest periods.
The yatra is carried out under the watchful eyes of security forces.
| Photo Credit:
Imran Nissar
Trust and support
“The day the yatra started this year, my son Fayaz Ahmad Paddar left for the upper reaches. We have posted two horses at Sheshnag and two at Panchtarni to take pilgrims to the cave shrine. My son is going to stay back in the mountains till the pilgrim rush continues. I may not see him for more than 40 days,” says Rehman Paddar, who charges anywhere from ₹800-8,000 depending on a variety of factors, including the stopovers, distance, and whether it’s a one-way or two-way trip. Fayaz will walk along with the horse, and they will do a trip daily.
Legend has it that Bota Malik, a local shepherd from Pahalgam, discovered the cave shrine in 1850, and reported the naturally formed ice stalagmite to the authorities. Malik is supposed to have met a Sufi saint who gave him a bag of coal that turned out to be gold when he got home. In gratitude, he rushed back to the spot to thank him, only to discover the cave instead.
“The Maliks started the practice of Muslims accompanying pilgrims to the cave shrine,” says Rehman, as he donned the signature white netted skull cap in preparation to offer namaz.
The original pilgrims to Amarnath were mainly sadhus, Dogra kings and their guests. Until 2005, the Maliks would even join the puja, could recite hymns and get a portion of the offerings too. That stopped five years after the formation of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board in 2000.
Rehman is a resident of Pahalgam’s Laripora village. For generations, his family too has served pilgrims during the yatra period, just as many Muslim families do during Hindu pilgrims’ journeys to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
Hindu pilgrims put faith in the people who walk alongside them, up one of two routes: via Pahalgam in south Kashmir, which was the traditional one, and Baltal in central Kashmir, opened in 1999. The traditional route of Pahalgam requires a pilgrim to stay at the Nunwan base camp and cover a distance of 46 km up to the shrine.
However, the non-traditional route of Baltal is just a 14-km trek, easier than the former. Even before the pilgrims, who converge from across the country, make it to Kashmir, families like that of the Paddars ferry goods, including raw food to langars that dot the twin routes.
Rehman had to stop trekking with pilgrims after a bullet hit him in the 1990s. There was a landmine blast in the main Pahalgam market. “It was aimed at pilgrims. In the firing, I received a bullet wound in one leg,” says Rehman as he lifts his trouser-leg to point at the deep scar.
However, the militant attack did not deter him from sending his son with the pilgrims. “I feel good when I see a pilgrim reaching the cave shrine safely. In the past, we would get stuck for days due to inclement weather. We have offered our own blankets to the stranded pilgrims to ensure that the snow or rain does not harm them,” he recalls.
Work is worship
Rehman is one of the thousands of owners who have registered their equines — horses and ponies — with the board to ferry pilgrims. Out of 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the yatra attracts horse or pony owners from 19 districts. According to official figures of the Animal Husbandry department, Anantnag district registered the highest 8,167 equines, followed by Ganderbal at 3,315, and Rajouri in Jammu division at 1,347.
The districts of Rajouri, Doda, Kathua, Kishtwar, Poonch, and Reasi are more than 200 km away from the shrine. According to official figures, 14,826 owners have registered 16,978 equines with the board this year.
“I have six children. I have to work hard to earn money, and I don’t own large tracts of land. I manage to earn between ₹15,000 to ₹30,000 during the yatra period. That helps me feed my family and stock up for the winter too. Allah has made this yatra a means for me to earn. It’s Allah’s wish,” says Kabir Khatana, a resident of Srigufwara in Anantnag.
Chirag Jain, a 33-year-old pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, is banking on horses to accomplish his life’s dream pilgrimage. “Aastha (faith) brought me here. I have been planning for years for the pilgrimage. Finally, Bolay Nath (Shiva) granted my wish,” says Jain, who is accompanied by a group of 10 others from his home State. He has been preparing for the pilgrimage for the past two years. “I would run every day to stay fit and improve my stamina. I wish I could trek up to the cave,” he adds.
With long-bearded Muslim pony owners circling Jain to negotiate the fare ahead of the pilgrimage, religion plays no role in the deal. “It does not bother me if he is a Muslim or Hindu. I am a sweets shop owner in Meerut. I supply sweets to all, including Muslims. We are all brothers. This earth belongs to all. The daunting task they complete is not possible for many of us. They are actually doing the real sewa (service),” says Jain.
The mountain peaks are jagged; the track is steep. Many patches are landslide prone, slippery, the surface rocky. The trek from Chandanwari is steep, especially the climb up to the stopovers of Sheshnag, Pissu Top, and Panchtarni. The cave shrine is just a 6-km trek from Panchtarni. The treacherousness of the trek can be gauged from the fact that on an average around 200 to 250 horses die on the trekking routes annually, according to data of the Animal Husbandry Department.
Official data suggests that these horses die due to urine retention, stomach ruptures, intestinal obstructions, and over exertion at high altitudes.
Beasts of burden
“A sudden change in dietary habits too takes a toll on horses,” an official says. In the first three weeks this year, 15 equine deaths have been reported. A horse costs between ₹40,000 and ₹1.20 lakh.
A horse can bear weight up to 80 kg on the tracks and can trek only up to nine hours at a stretch. The steep and craggy stone trail, with deep gorges on one side from Sheshnag to Panjtarni, has reported the highest animal deaths in the past. At least 66 insurance claims have come forward this year in the first three weeks.
According to shrine board officials, the Animal Husbandry Department pays an insurance premium of ₹2,610 for each equine. “Ponies are insured. The owner is given ₹50,000 if a horse dies. Up to 70 veterinary camps have been set up along the Pahalgam axis and on all established camps from the Baltal side, which provide free medical check-ups and medicines. All camps are manned by trained vets,” says Shahid Choudhary, one of the nodal officers for the yatra.
However, poor infrastructure at the veterinary hospital in Pahalgam tells a different story. “No surgeries can be performed in Pahalgam in case of intestinal obstruction, caused by exertion and dehydration. Such cases cause 90% of the deaths during the yatra period,” a senior official at the department in Srinagar said.
The yatra has also impacted the population of mares. Official data suggested the female equine population in Pahalgam has dipped to 0.5%- to 1%. “We prefer horses or ponies over mares. Mares are not load bearing,” says Nazim Khatana, a resident of Baisaran.
Officials accused the locals of employing crude methods of castration on horses and ponies, which also caused deaths. The Animal Husbandry Department is receiving a number of cases where unhealthy mode of castration caused infection in animals.
Away from the damp, dingy veterinary hospital in Pahalgam, Mukhtar Ahmad Magray is recuperating at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar. The pilgrimage has been equally taxing for the health of locals who register as palanquin-bearers or pithu wallahs, whose job is to carry a person or baggage on their shoulders. The Jammu and Kashmir Labour Department has registered 10,464 locals as palanquin-bearers and 4,878 locals as pithu wallahs.
Magray, 35, a pony owner from Anantnag’s Aishmuqam area, suffered a minor heart attack around 6.40 p.m. on June 30 at Sheshnag as he accompanied a group of pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh. He was airlifted to Pahalgam by the board. “Magray has three children. He was admitted here for specialised treatment,” says Altaf Ahmad Magray, a cousin of the pony owner. He is struggling to meet the medical expenses as the board does not pay for that. Ironically, they only pay ₹2 lakh when a worker dies.
The toughest service of all is the pithu wallahs. Anjali Syani, from Haridwar, would not have completed the pilgrimage but for the help of Tariq Ahmad Khan, a pithu wallah from the Hapatnaar area. He has four daughters and one son to feed back home.
Muhammad Haleem Khatana, a Pithu-wala, has been providing service of carrying baggage pilgrims along the arduous trek of the Chandanwari-Cave for decades.
| Photo Credit:
Imran Nissar
“For 15 years, I have been offering this service. I can carry up to 50 kg. I find Chandanwari to Sheshnag very difficult,” he says, adding that the stretch that takes three to four hours makes him feel like throwing up. “We don’t eat solid food all day while taking pilgrims up in the mountains, and prefer milk-less tea.”
Khan’s neck aches as he walks with his head down, looking at the ground, as he carries the weight. For himself, all he carries is a jacket to protect his sinewy, muscular body against rain.
Mohammad Haleem Khatana, a palanquin-bearer, has felt breathless on the journey many times. “I take short rest in between. I entertain pilgrims with stories from the past. They like it,” says Khatana, who has two sons. “Ï won’t shy away from sending my son into the service of the pilgrimage. Kashmir has so much joblessness. The yatra provides an option for us to earn a living,” Khatana adds.
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