A fresh batch of 4,889 Amarnath pilgrims commenced their journey from Jammu early on Sunday towards the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal in Kashmir, according to officials.
Departing from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a convoy of 187 vehicles around 3 am, the pilgrims included 2,993 individuals opting for the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route, among them 500 women and 11 children. Additionally, 1,896 pilgrims chose the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route.
With this latest batch, the total number of pilgrims initiating the Amarnath Yatra from Jammu has reached 91,202. Many other pilgrims have directly traveled to the base camps in the Valley.
The annual yatra, which commenced from the twin routes of Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal districts on June 29, has already seen over 3.1 lakh pilgrims paying their respects at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine nestled in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
Scheduled to conclude on ‘Shravan Purnima’ coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan on August 19, last year’s yatra witnessed over 4.5 lakh pilgrims participating in the pilgrimage to the shrine.