11,066 leave from Chandanwari, 10,387 take Baltal route
*Death toll reaches 3 as another yatri dies
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 6: The highest number of 21,512 pilgrims today performed darshan of holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva at Shri Amarnath Ji cave shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas taking total pilgrimage during last four days to 69,484 while 7208 yatris left Bhagwati Nagar base camp here early this morning for Nunwan and Baltal in the official convoy.
Number of 21,512 devotees who paid obeisance to Lord Shiva at the cave shrine today was highest since July 3 when the yatra began. Also, the fourth batch of 7208 yatris who left for Nunwan (Pahalgam) and Baltal camps from Bhagwati Nagar here this morning was highest in last five days, indicating trend of increase in number of the pilgrims having darshan and proceeding to the shrine with every passing day.
Officials told the Excelsior that 21,512 pilgrims today paid obeisance to the holy Ice Lingam in Shri Amarnath Ji’s shrine located at the height of about 12,700 feet from sea level in South Kashmir Himalayas.
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On Day one of yatra i.e. July 3, 12,348 pilgrims performed darshan while the number rose to 14,515 on July 4 and further went up to 21,109 on July 5. Today, the number stood at 21,512 including 15758 males, 4723 females, 300 children, 129 Sadhus, 17 Sadhvis, three transgenders and 582 security personnel.
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Today, as many as 11066 pilgrims left for the cave shrine from traditional Chandanwari route and 10387 from Baltal track.
Number of the devotees leaving from Bhagwati Nagar for onward pilgrimage also kept rising during last four days, the official data revealed.
Today, 7208 yartris left in the official convoy from Bhagwati Nagar for Nunwan and Baltal. This number was 4800 on July 2 and went up to 5200 on July 3. The number further rose to 6400 on July 4 and 6979 on July 5.
The fifth batch of 7,208 pilgrims, which left Bhagwati Nagar base camp early today include 1,587 women and 30 children. They departed in two separate convoys amid tight security arrangements between 3.35 am and 4.15 am, the officials said.
This was the largest batch of pilgrims since Wednesday, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the yatra from here.
With this, a total of 31,736 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the Valley.
The first pilgrim convoy carrying 3,199 pilgrims in 147 vehicles left for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district followed by second convoy of 4,009 pilgrims in 160 vehicles who are undertaking the yatra from the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district, the officials said.
The pilgrims braved heavy rains which lashed wide parts of Jammu throughout the night.
The Bhagwati Nagar base camp has been put under a multi-tier security cover in the backdrop of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead.
More than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage so far.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the ongoing pilgrimage has reached three as a pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh died due to cardiac arrest, the officials said.
Rakesh Kumar Soni, 49, a resident of Pant Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, fell sick at Baltal. He was referred to a hospital in Srinagar where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
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