On skates and with faith: Two young pilgrims make extraordinary journey to Amarnath Cave

High in the Himalayas, where the air itself grows thin with reverence, a new kind of devotee is making his way to the holy cave of Lord Shiva—not with folded hands alone, but with skates strapped to his feet and the Tricolour clutched tightly against his chest.

This is no longer just a pilgrimage for two young men from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Rather, it is a declaration of faith that refuses to bow before difficulty and hardship.

Faith on Wheels: The Journey of Kanhaiya and Sonu Yadav

Kanhaiya, a young man from Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, and Sonu Yadav from Bihar did not simply walk towards the sacred cave—they skated towards it, mile after punishing mile, with chants of “Har Har Mahadev” echoing through the mountains with every stride.

Theirs is not a story of stunt or spectacle. It is a story of surrender—the kind Indian scriptures have always spoken of—where the body becomes an instrument of the soul’s longing for the divine.

In their glide across ice and stone, one sees the essence of tapasya: true devotion does not seek the easy path. It embraces the hardest one, for it is there that faith proves itself.

The annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath in Kashmir Valley has always been more than a religious journey—it is the living heartbeat of India’s spiritual civilisation, a testament to the belief that genuine devotion dissolves every obstacle in its path.

Every year, the Shri Amarnath Yatra begins on the auspicious Hindu day of Skanda Sashti in late June or early July and concludes on Shravan Purnima, which coincides with the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Every year, lakhs of pilgrims leave behind the comforts of daily life to undertake the arduous trek through the rugged mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, driven solely by unwavering faith. But this year, that devotion has found faces the nation is unlikely to forget.

Perhaps the most quietly revolutionary aspect of this year’s Yatra is the generation undertaking it. Young people raised in the age of smartphones and instant gratification are choosing, instead, the slow, demanding path of pilgrimage—the aching legs, the thin mountain air, and days without mobile connectivity or comfort. They are trading convenience for consciousness.

This is not a rebellion against modernity. It is a homecoming.

Today’s youth, backpacks on their shoulders and the Tricolour in their hands, are proving that spirituality has never been the preserve of the elderly alone—it belongs to anyone willing to walk towards the divine.

Over 8,700 Pilgrims Leave from Jammu

As many as 8,796 pilgrims, including 33 foreign nationals, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu on Friday for the annual Shri Amarnath Yatra to the cave shrine in Anantnag district amid multi-tier security arrangements, officials said.

More than 1.73 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the naturally formed ice lingam of Lord Shiva at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine since the Yatra commenced on July 2.

On Friday, 8,796 pilgrims departed from the base camp in 354 vehicles. The batch comprised 6,046 men, 2,042 women, 228 sadhus, 56 sadhvis, 10 children, one transperson, and 33 foreign nationals.

According to officials, the convoy left in two separate groups. The Baltal axis convoy, carrying 3,450 pilgrims, departed at 3:35 am, while the Pahalgam axis convoy, with 5,346 pilgrims, left at 4:00 am amid chants of religious slogans.