A procession of sadhus carried the traditional 'Chahri Mubarak' (Lord Shiva's mace) Wednesday from here to the Amarnath cave shrine.
Amid chanting of vedic hymns, a procession of devotees, including Swami Dipinder Giri its custodian, the Chahri Mubarak was taken out of the Dashnami Akhara temple in Srinagar for its onward journey to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath.
The Chahri Mubarak will reach the holy cave Aug 10 coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.
"The final Puja will be left inside the cave after the arrival of the Chahri Mubarak with which this year's Yatra will come to a close Aug 10," Giri told reporters here.
The Himalayan cave shrine situated in the south Kashmir's Anantnag district of the Valley houses an ice stalagmite structure called the Shiv Lingam which wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon.
Devotees believe the structure symbolizes the mythical powers of the Hindu god.
So far, over 360,000 pilgrims have had darshan inside the Amarnath Cave shrine.
