The Challenging Trek to Pissu Top on the Amarnath Yatra

At Chandanwari base camp, thousands of pilgrims continue to fill the air with holy chants despite the predawn darkness. The pilgrims have assembled at the staging area at four in the morning, bracing themselves for the most taxing part of the Amarnath Yatra: the infamous Pissu Top.

Authorities have already reported one pilgrim's death less than a week into the 38-day journey. A strenuous 3-kilometer hike awaits the pilgrims at Chandanwari Base Camp, trying every ounce of their dedication. The trail climbs continuously and steeply to 11,000 feet above sea level, when gravity threatens to break your spirits and breathing becomes harder with every step. For many years, this path stayed just as nature had sculpted it: a small, muddy scar carved into the mountainside that is barely wide enough for two pilgrims to cross.

The hiking path is now paved and wider, with locking tiles that contrast with the untamed mountainside. Handrails and safety walls lead the devout down the roads of this perilous journey, while solar street lights illuminate the alpine darkness.

However, there is a price for this. White glacier streams that formerly flowed in diamond-bright torrents have now reduced to trickles that emerge from rubble mounds. Trees stand with their branches chopped off to make room for the broader walkways. The landscape is dotted with scars that bear witness to the cost of progress.