Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 13: Over 11, 000 pilgrims performed darshan in the holy cave on 16th day of yatra, today.
According to an official spokesman 11,420 pilgrims performed darshan in holy cave today. With this, the total number of pilgrims paying obeisance in holy cave of Swami Amarnath Ji in South Kashmir district of Anantnag since the first day of darshan on June 28 has reached 2,25,338.
The spokesman said 4,845 pilgrims left for holy cave from Baltal base camp via shorter track, while 4,057 pilgrims left from Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp via traditional Chandanwari track under tight security arrangements today.
They include those yatris also who left for holy cave via chopper, spokesman added.
He said the yatris who left for holy cave via Chandanwari track after halting at Chandanwari camp, Sheshnag and Panjtarni respectively will perform darshan on July 16 in holy cave. But the yatris who left from Baltal track had performed darshan in the cave shrine by this evening and had started their return journey also.
Spokesman said that the yatris from Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panchtarni halting stations also started their onwards journey towards the holy cave early this morning.
He said the majority of pilgrims who had performed the darshan in cave shrine during last 16 days have left for their home states. He said the yatra was proceeding smoothly and the weather remained pleasant during last couple of days.
He said that the directives of Shrine Board are strictly carried out by the administration and no unregistered yatri is allowed to cross the entry gates. Besides, all arrangements for yatris on both the tracks are in place.
Three yatris were injured while on their way to holy cave today. One yatri was injured after a fall from horse at Sheshnag while two yatris were injured after slipping from the track at Panchtarni and Domel respectively. However their identity was not known.
The spokesman said one horseman was also injured after a clash with some yatris near Sangam.
Meanwhile a fresh batch of 1280 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Jammu base camp in a cavalcade of 42 vehicles under tight security arrangements for holy cave early this morning.
They include 934 male, 238 female, 12 children and 96 Sadhus. All these pilgrims had crossed the Jawahar tunnel by this evening and where on their way to base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam and Baltal respectively.
They will leave for holy cave early tomorrow morning, spokesman said.
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