Over 4,600 devotees leave Jammu for Amarnath Yatra

Jammu: A fresh batch of 4,669 pilgrims, including 96 sadhus and two sadhvis, left Jammu city to join the pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas early Saturday, officials said.

They will leave for the shrine, at a height of 3,880 metre, after reaching the two base camps of the yatra -- Baltal and Pahalgam.

The 16th batch of pilgrims, which also included 1,130 women and 23 children, left Bhagwati Nagar base camp here in a convoy of 183 vehicles between 3 am and 4 am under tight security arrangements, the officials said.

While 3,039 pilgrims are heading for Pahalgam base camp in Anantnag district, 1,630 others are reaching Baltal base camp in Ganderbal district for their onward trek to the cave shrine the next day, the officials said.

The 52-day pilgrimage began on June 29 and so far over 2.8 lakh people have paid obeisance at the cave shrine, they said.