Around 15,000 pilgrims visit Shri Amarnathji cave shrine, total crosses 3 lakh

4,800 Yatris leave Jammu for Valley

STATE TIMES NEWS

SRINAGAR: The number of pilgrims who paid obeisance to Lord Shiva at Amarnath cave shrine in South Kashmir crossed the three lakh mark on Sunday as nearly 15,000 yatris had Darshan of the naturally formed ice lingam, officials said here.
“As many as 14,974 pilgrims performed the yatra on Sunday and had darshan of Baba Bholenath on the 16th day of the annual yatra,” the officials said.
They said the number of pilgrims who have been to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine has now reached 3,09,957.
The officials said 9,755 male pilgrims, 3,291 female pilgrims, 245 Sadhus and one Sadhvi were among those who paid obeisance at the cave shrine. Over 1,500 security forces and 159 children also performed the pilgrimage. Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 4,889 Amarnath pilgrims left Jammu early this morning for the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal in Kashmir, officials said.
The pilgrims left Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a convoy of 187 vehicles around 3 am amid tight security, they said.
While 2,993 pilgrims, including 500 women and 11 children, will take the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route for their yatra, 1,896 pilgrims have preferred the shorter but steep 14-km Baltal route.
With this batch, the number of people who started the Amarnath Yatra from Jammu is 91,202. The rest of the pilgrims have directly reached the base camps in the Valley.