A 35-year-old man from Jharkhand has died in Him🐬achal Pradesh's Kullu district while on pilgrimage to Shrikhand M🐷ahadev, revered by Hindus as one of the abodes of Lord Shiva.
Anni Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravindra N♔egi said the body of Hari Om, a resident of Jamshedpur, was being brouဣght back to the base camp. The exact cause of his death is not yet known, he said.
Considered tougher than the Amarnath pilgrimage, the Shrikhand Mahadev Yatra began this year from the Singhad base camp at 6,000 feet above sea level in the Nirmand block of Kullu distꦰrict on July 11, officials said.
The pilgrimage ends at 17,150 feet above se𒉰a level, while the 'Shiva Lingam' is situated at a heꦯight of 18,750 feet.
Given the increasing popularity of the Shrikhand Yatra, the H🐷imachal Government has formed Shrikhand Yatra Trust and the pilgrimage is conducted under the supervision of the Kullu administration.
As several pilgrims lost their lives mainly due to hypothermia in past years, online 🌌registration along with a medical fitness certificate has been made mand▨atory for pilgrims this year, the officials added.
The S𓄧hrikhand Mahadev Yatra has resumed after a gap of two years due to the Covid pandemic. The pilgrimage used to start after July 15 every year. However, this year, the Kullu administration decided to start the pilgrimage on July 11 and it will end on July 24.
The base camps for the pilgrimage have been set up at Singhad, Thachru, Kunsha, Bhimdwari and Parvatibagh. At each camp, the administration has stationed medical, resc𝕴ue and police teams under a sector m🙈agistrate.
(With PTI inputs)
