Over 43,00 pilgrims leave for Amarnath cave shrine from Jammu

Pilgrims during the Amarnath Yatra, after resumption of the pilgrimage from Panjtarni route, in Amarnath. Pic/PTI

The 30th batch of 4,355 Amarnath pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the twin base camps of of Pahalgam and Baltal in Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said. The pilgrims left in a convoy of 166 vehicles amid heavy CRPF cover, they said.

Officials said 1,846 pilgrims heading for Baltal were the first to leave the Bhagwati Nagar camp in 72 vehicles followed by the second convoy of 94 vehicles carrying 2,509 pilgrims for Pahalgam. With this, a total of 1,20,011 pilgrims have left from the Jammu base camp for the Valley since June 29. Over 2 lakh pilgrims have so far offered their prayers at the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.

The 43-day-long pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas commenced on June 30 from the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in south Kashmir's Anantnag district and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district. The pilgrimage is scheduled to end on August 11 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. A total of 32 people, mostly pilgrims, have died during on-going Amarnath yatra till now, excluding the 15 pilgrims who died in the flashfloods at the cave shrine on July 1.

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