J&K’s Ramban dishes out a pan-Indian spread for Amarnath pilgrims during their unexpected night halt | India News,The Indian Express
Around 7,000 people, mostly pilgrims, who had converged at the illuminated Lamber ground in Banihal, were served free ethnic cuisines from across the country
With thousands of Kashmir-bound Amarnath pilgrims making night halt at different places in Ramban, the 66-km most challenging stretch of the National Highway–44 passing through the hilly district has for the first time set the stage for the confluence of different cultures of India.
All this started Wednesday evening, when vehicles carrying Amarnath pilgrims and tourists who were not part of the convoy flagged off by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar in the morning were passing through Navayuga Tunnel on way to Kashmir, suddenly they were made to move back to Banihal side by the police and security forces following an encounter between security forces and militants in Kulgam district ahead.
Apprehensive of getting stranded on the highway, nearly 6,000 – 7,000 people, mostly pilgrims, converged at the vast ground illuminated with LED lights at Lamber, near Toll Plaza, in Banihal. Within an hour, they were in for a pleasant surprise with eateries lined up ready to serve them a free vegetarian dinner with a host of flavourful dishes from all parts of the country.
Enjoying the delicacies of the South, North, East and western parts of India during dinner there, these people had a gala time before resuming their journey early next morning, officers in the Ramban district administration said.
Two categorised militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in the Kulgam encounter. As the encounter site was “very close” to the pilgrimage route, the authorities decided not to allow Amarnath pilgrims and tourists towards the Valley after 1.30 pm and 3 pm, the cut-off timings fixed for crossing Chanderkote in Ramban and Lamber in Banihal, respectively.
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