Over 1,800 pilgrims leave Jammu base camp for Amarnath cave shrine

Jammu: More than 1,800 pilgrims left a base camp in Jammu for the 3,880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas amid tight security arrangements on Monday, officials said.

More than 4.55 lakh pilgrims have already paid obeisance at the naturally-formed ice lingam at the cave shrine, compared to the over 4.5 lakh last year.

The 32th batch of 1,832 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp at 3.22 am in a convoy of 62 vehicles escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the officials said. The group included 1,358 men, 363 women, two children, and 109 sadhus and sadhvis, they said. While 1,263 pilgrims will reach Pahalgam to undertake the annual pilgrimage through the traditional 48-km route in Anantnag district, 569 have opted for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.

Since June 28, when Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch of pilgrims from Jammu, a total of 1,38,816 pilgrims have embarked on the annual pilgrimage from the base camp here.  The 52-day yatra, which commenced formally on June 29 from the Baltal and Pahalgam base camps in Kashmir, is scheduled to conclude on August 19.