3,708 pilgrims leaves Jammu for Amarnath

Jammu: Braving light showers, seventh batch of 3,708 pilgrims, today left Jammu for the 3,888-metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, amid tight security, a senior official said.

The pilgrims, including 622 women and 232 sadhus, left for the cave shrine in 114 vehicles from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here at 2:30 am, he said.

Yesterday, 18,467 pilgrims had paid obeisance at the shrine. 

So far, 54,833 pilgrims have visited the cave shrine by taking the 36-km Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and 12-km Baltal route in Ganderbal since the commencement of the annual 60-day pilgrimage on June 28, the official said.

With today’s batch, a total of 27,426 pilgrims have left Jammu base camp for their onward journey to Amarnath shrine, he said.

Despite incessant rains which even posed a threat of flash floods in the valley, the yatra to the cave shrine commenced as per scheduled on June 28 after several hours of delay but faced frequent disruptions owing to continuous rainfall, slippery condition of the tracks and landslides. 

The 60-day yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 26 coinciding with the ‘Raksha Bandhan’ festival.