Pahalgam terror attack: Why India's 'mini Switzerland', a base camp for Amarnath Yatra, was deliberate choice of cowardly terrorist strike

Pahalgam terror attack - Why did terrorists choose site near Amarnath cave temple? At least 27 innocent civilians were killed in a dastardly terrorist attack on Wednesday (Apr 22) at the Bisaran meadow in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. The choice of Pahalgam was no accident. It is not only a popular tourist destination, but also a very important site for Hindus as it's a base camp and main point of departure for the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage.

The terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba's attack group The Resistance Front (TRF) must have chosen it for the following reasons:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia at the time of the attack. Some of the terrorists reportedly told a survivor to 'go tell this to Modi.' US Vice President JD Vance was on a visit to India, and the terrorists wanted to send a message to America too.

The Amarnath pilgrimage was just weeks away, so it was a way of trying to scare off Hindu pilgrims.

April is the peak tourist season month in Pahalgam, and the terrorists hoped to inflict maximum damage, and scare away visitors.

The attack happened just a few days ahead of the Hindu pilgrimage Amarnath yatra, the registration for which started just eight days ago. The Amarnath Yatra, set to begin on July 2 and conclude on August 9, is conducted from the Pahalgam and Baltal routes.

Chandanwari, some 16 kilometres from Pahalgam, is the starting point of the annual yatra, a pilgrimage taken by tens of thousands of Hindu devotees.

The Pahalgam attack, the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir since the 2019 Pulwama bombing targeting security personnel, was in response to what the terrorists claimed was demographic changes in Kashmir Valley.

In a rather odd message, they claimed that people from the rest of India visit Pahalgam in the guise of tourists and take the land.

This is as outlandish a claim as it could get.

Pahalgam literally means the village of shepherds, which is formed from the two Kashmiri words 'Puheyl' for shepherd and 'goam' for village.

It has many meadows, pastures and traditional grazing grounds where shepherds like the Bakharwal people herd their cattle.

Located near Anantnag city in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, Pahalgam hosts thousands of tourists every year, who visit to marvel at the hill station's green meadows and pristine rivers.

Situated on the banks of Lidder River, Pahalgam reportedly attracts some 70 per cent of visitors to the Kashmir valley, due to its tourist potential as well as for being the base camp for Amarnath yatra. This is why the terrorists chose the area for the attack.

Baisaran Valley, where the attack happened, is a tourist destination in Pahalgam known as the 'mini Switzerland'.

It is a meadow flanked by mountains, showered in white snow, and forests populated by pine trees.

The best tourist season in Pahalgam runs from January to April, which explains why the attack happened on a bright April day.

Hindu mythology names Pahalgam as 'Bail Gaon' of village of the bull. Here, the reference is to the sacred bull Nandi, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. 

It is the place where Lord Shiva left Nandi, before entering Amarnath Cave to meditate.

The Amarnath cave is near Pahalgam, located at an altitude of 3,888 metres.

Lord Shiva gave the 'Amrit Vachan', the secret to immortality, to his consort Parvati in Pahalgam, according to Hindu mythology. The Amarnath cave is the final destination of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims. Many of them set up base camps in Pahalgam, before doing the trek to Amarnath cave temple either by foot or on mules.