Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 6: Over 15,185 pilgrims performed darshan at holy cave of Swami Amarnath Ji situated in Lidder Valley in South Kashmir district of Anantnag on the fifth day of yatra today.
According to an official spokesman, 15,185 pilgrims performed darshan at cave shrine by this evening from both shortest Baltal and traditional Pahalgam-Nunwan tracks. With this the total number of pilgrims performing darshan at holy cave so far has touched 71,103 since the 48 day long yatra started on July 2.
He said despite the rains at Baltal and Nunwan-Pahalgam tracks during the morning, the yatra proceeded smoothly. The weather at holy cave was also cloudy during the day, he added.
He said one pilgrim died of cardiac arrest at Baltal Bus Stand while boarding the bus. She was identified as Kavita Malhotra, wife of Chuni Lal Malhotra of Rohini, Delhi. With this the death toll in ongoing yatra reached 3. Two yatris had died earlier while on their way to holy cave.
He said fresh batches of yatris left Baltal and Nunwan Pahalgam base camps for the holy cave for darshan of Ice Shivlingam this morning.
A fresh batch of 6,117 pilgrims, including women and Sadhus, left Baltal base camp for the cave shrine early this morning. The pilgrims are likely to reach the cave shrine this afternoon or by evening after covering the 14-km-long hilly terrain on foot.
The pilgrims are allowed to leave for holy cave only up to 1100 hours daily and after that the gates are closed, spokesman said. He said over 6000 pilgrims left from Nunwan-Pahalgam base camp for Chandanwari the last motorable halting station on this track to cave shrine. After night halts at Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panchtarni, they will reach holy cave for darshan on July 9.
Meanwhile, pilgrims who had paid obeisance yesterday and early this morning have also started their return journey through Baltal track.
Besides, the pilgrims who had night halt at Chandanwari and other halting stations on the traditional track, have also started their onward journey towards the cave shrine early this morning.
He said till last night, 55,918 pilgrims had darshan since July 2 from both Baltal and Pahalgam tracks. Majority of the pilgrims have returned to base camps after yatra. However, some of them had since returned to their homes while others stayed in Kashmir to visit tourist places.
The sixth batch of 1821 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here early this morning for twin base camps of Nunwan Pahalgam and Baltal in cavalcade of 53 vehicles including 38 buses and 15 LMVs.
These yatris included 1262 male, 359 female, 173 male Sadhus and 27 female Sadhus. All the yatris had crossed Jawahar Tunnel by this evening and they were on their way to their respective base camps.
However the majority of pilgrims didn’t prefer to enter the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas and leave for base camps of Nunwan and Baltal directly.
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