Amarnath Yatra: Second batch of over 4,400 pilgrims leaves Jammu camp for Kashmir

JAMMU: A second batch of more than 4,400 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here on Saturday in a secured convoy on a pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine.

The pilgrims left the base camp in the morning in a cavalcade of 188 vehicles. With this, the number of pilgrims who left for the Amarnath cave shrine from the Jammu base camp has reached 7,904, officials said.

They said 2,733 devotees left in 94 vehicles for Pahalgam around 4.50 am, while 1,683 pilgrims left in a fleet of 92 vehicles for the Baltal base camp nearly an hour earlier.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch of pilgrims for the annual Amarnath Yatra from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp on Friday.

The 62-day-long pilgrimage commenced from Kashmir on Saturday on the twin tracks the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district and the shorter but steep 14-km-long Baltal route in the Ganderbal district.

“We are very happy to start for Amarnath. I have always longed to see the ‘ice lingam’ of Lord Shiva,” 62-year-old Surinder Joshi from Rajasthan told PTI. Joshi is undertaking the pilgrimage along with his wife Kusum.

A multi-tier security setup has been activated in and around the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the annual pilgrimage.

Thirty-three accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being issued to the pilgrims.

Five counters have been set up for the registration of pilgrims who intend to undertake the yatra.

So far, more than 3.5 lakh people have registered themselves online for the pilgrimage. (PTI)