Two devotees, Jiten Rajput and Amit Rajput, have completed a 1700‑kilometre Dandavat Yatra towards the Amarnath cave and have reached Chanderkot in Ramban district, Jammu and Kashmir, after 10 months on the road.
They began their journey on July 23, 2025, and have covered the entire distance by performing full‑body prostrations, a traditional form of extreme penance in the Hindu tradition, as they advance towards the sacred ice Shiva linga in the Himalayas.
The brothers’ Dandavat Yatra is being seen as a powerful act of unwavering devotion on the eve of the official Amarnath Yatra 2026, which is scheduled to run from July 3 to August 9 through the Pahalgam and Baltal routes. By the time they reach the Chanderkot halt point, a key staging and service centre in the Amarnath Yatra ecosystem, they will have already endured high‑altitude terrain, freezing temperatures, and long stretches of road, embodying the spirit of austerity and single‑minded focus often associated with Amarnath‑area pilgrimages.
The visual of two men walking the entire length of India towards the Amarnath cave with Dandavat Pranam has drawn admiration from residents, fellow pilgrims, and security personnel along the route, many of whom have publicly applauded their resolve.
Their journey, which mirrors the traditional ethos of the yatra rather than its modern, motorised and helicopter‑linked logistics, reinforces the idea of Amarnath as a mountain‑sacred Shiva shrine where penance, discipline, and individual surrender to the deity still hold deep spiritual value in Sanatana Dharma today.
