Panchtarni - second stop of Amarnath yatra
Panchtarni is the place you want to reach earliest if you are taking the Helicopter service to Amarnath. It is believed that Shiva when he was taking Parvati to a inaccessible location to share the Devarashiyam of Immortality left each of his accompaniments that adorned him at one one place. In here he is believed to have left behind the 5 elements before proceeding to Amarnath Cave. In the Baltal route - you start your walking/trekking or taking a horse or a dholi from Baltal. But if you are taking an Helicopter your starting point is Neelgrath. The helicopter drops you at Panchtarni From here to Amarnath you need to cover a distance of 6kms. Not everyone is lucky to have the blessings of Bhole Nath that you climb down the Helicopter and go to Amarnath Cave have the darshan of Ice ling come back and take the Helicopter and fly down to Sonmarg all on the same day. So this is an essential base camp for those that need a stay. The whole area is under the control of Para militar