amarnath-yatra-continues-with-over-1-30-lakh-pilgrims

A fresh batch of over 7,300 devotees left the Jammu base camp on early Thursday morning for the Amarnath shrine in South Kashmir, officials said.

 

Nearly 1.30 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the 3,880 metre-high cave shrine since the start of the Yatra on July 3.

 

The 38-day annual yatra commenced from twin treks in Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district and the Baltal route in Ganderbal.

 

As per officials, the ninth batch of 7,307 pilgrims, 5,534 men, 1,586 women, 25 children, and 162 sadhus and Sadhvis, left in 284 vehicles between 3:15 am and 3:58 am amid tight security at an interval of approximately 43 minutes, they said.

 

While 3,081 pilgrims left in 137 vehicles for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district, 4,226 pilgrims left in 147 vehicles via the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district.

 

The Yatra figures are set to cross the 1.30 lakh mark on the 8th day on Thursday, raising hopes for swelling numbers in the coming days.

 

With this fresh departure, a total of 62,788 pilgrims have left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir Valley since Wednesday, after the yatra was flagged off by the LG Manoj Sinha from Jammu.

 

The yatra goes on as usual, amid tight security arrangements, despite the April 22 Pahalgam attack. So far, more than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage, while the numbers are likely to surge in the coming days after the J&K administration established special counters for offline registration. Last year, more than 5.10 lakh Yatris paid obeisance at the cave shrine.