The Jammu and Kashmir administration flagged off the first batch of pilgrims from the Baltal base camp in Ganderbal to the Amarnath cave shrine on Saturday.
On the other hand, a second batch of more than 4,400 pilgrims began the pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high Amarnath cave shrine from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu amidst tight security today. The pilgrims left the base camp on Saturday morning in a convoy of 188 vehicles.
Quoting officials, said the number of pilgrims who left for the Amarnath cave shrine from the Jammu base camp stands at 7,904.
The first batch of pilgrims left for the Amarnath cave shrine from Jammu on Friday. The convoy was flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp.
The 62-day-long Amarnath Yatra will commence from Kashmir on July 1 from the twin tracks, the 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steep Baltal route in the Ganderbal district.
The Yatra takes place in the Shravan month of the Hindu calendar as it is the only time that the caves are accessible to the general public. The yatra will last till August 31 this year.A multi-tier security setup has been set up in and around the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the annual pilgrimage. As many as 33 accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags have been issued to the pilgrims.
Five counters have been set up for the registration of pilgrims. Around 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the Yatra this year so far.
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