SRINAGAR/JAMMU: A fresh batch of nearly 3,000 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here for the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas today, the police said.
The 60-day annual pilgrimage commenced from the twin routes of Baltal in Ganderbal and Pahalgam in Anantnag districts on June 28 and till last evening over 1.76 lakh pilgrims have visited the cave shrine.
A convoy of 121 vehicles carrying 2,922 pilgrims, including 725 women and 93 sadhus, left for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in the Valley, despite early morning rains which lashed wide parts of Jammu region, a police official said.
He said the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, is open for traffic.
According to the official,while 1,480 pilgrims are heading for Nunwan base camp along the 36-km Pahalgam track, 1,442 yatris have opted for the shortest 12-km Baltal route.
The pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on August 26 coinciding with ‘Raksha Bandhan’ festival.
Meanwhile, fresh batches of pilgrims, including women and sadhus, on Sunday left for the holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, where 1.76 lakh yatris have paid obeisance so far since the commencement of the 60-day-long annual pilgrimage from June 28.
However, during the pilgrimage, 22 pilgrims died due to health reasons and accidents and landslides during the yatra.
The annual yatra is progressing smoothly from shortest Baltal and Nunwan Pahalgam base camps and the weather is pleasant, official sources said.
They said about 11,200 yatris paid obeisance at the holy cave during the past 24 hours. With this, a total of 1,76,200 pilgrims had ‘darshan’ of the self made Ice-Shivlingam at the cave shrine, situated at 14,000 feet above sea level. Since early this morning more pilgrims, including women and sadhus, are arriving from nearby halting stations to pay obeisance at the cave shrine.
They said a fresh batch of yatris left Baltal early Sunday morning for the cave shrine. The yatris are scheduled to reach the cave shrine in the afternoon after covering the 14-km-long hilly track on foot. Meanwhile, pilgrims who had darshan yesterday, have also started their return journey to base camp since early this morning.
Source said a fresh batch of pilgrims also left Nunwan Pahalgam base camp for Chandanwari, the last motorable halting station on traditional route. Meanwhile, pilgrims who had night halt at Chandanwari and other halting stations on the track have also started their journey towards the cave shrine since early this morning.
Majority of the pilgrims, who had darshan so far have returned to their homes while others are visiting tourist destinations in the valley.
(AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel