Anantnag (Jammu and Kashmir), July 15 (ANI): A man from Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri has been walking for the past 111 days in an extraordinary pilgrimage to the holy cave of Baba Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir.

Harnam Prasad, who is on a 7000 kilometer pilgrimage, has reached Pahalgam, carrying a 17 kg Kanwar on his shoulder.

Harnam Prasad took on the pilgrimage from his house in Lakhimpuri, offering his prayers in Rameshwaran Jyotirling in Tamil Nadu, Srisailam Mallikarjuna Temple in Andhra Pradesh and visiting several religious places in Mathura, Vrindavan before reaching Pahalgam.

'I have been walking for one hundred and eleven days. I am taking a padyatra from Rameshwaram Jyoti Linga, to Baba Barfani Amarnath. On my way I have visited Srisailam Mallikarjun. After that, I went to Vrindavan Mathura and straight from Mathura I went to Delhi and visited Khatu Shyam Baba. Taking his blessings, I went straight to Jammu and Kashmir through Jammu and Punjab Haryana,' Harnam Prasad told ANI.

Harnam Prasad lifted 17 kg Kanwar (sacred water pots) on his shoulders midway, from Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur, and said with them he will cover a total of 1700 km of 7000 km pilgrimage, before doing 'abhishek' of Lord Shiva and Nandi Maharaj with the sacred water.

'I lifed the Kanwar in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, with them I'll cover seventeen hundred kilometers of 7,000 kilometers padyatra and perform abhishek on Mahadev on Nandi Maharaj,' he said.

Prasad said that he only wishes for our blooming country to flourish and it should be Hindu nation.

'My only wish is that our nation should be Hindu nation, Gaumata should be our Rashtramata and Akhand Bharat should be built,' he said.

On Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced that the ongoing Amarnath Yatra has surpassed the 2-lakh mark, with devotees continuing to throng the holy cave shrine.

In a post on X, LG Sinha expressed his joy, stating, 'With Baba Amarnath Ji's blessings, the holy pilgrimage has crossed the 2 lakh mark today. This is a sacred journey of a lifetime, and I welcome all the devotees to discover and experience the divinity. Har Har Mahadev!'

The 38-day annual Amarnath pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine in south Kashmir began on July 3 and will conclude on August 9. (ANI)