Amarnath Yatra 2018: 13767 pay obeisance

SRINAGAR: On the 13th day of the ongoing Shri Amarnathji Yatra, 13,767 Yatris paid obeisance at the Holy Cave, taking the total number of Yatris to have performed had the darshan of the Shivling to 1,17,785.

Earlier this morning, the 10th batch of 5,144 pilgrims today left Jammu for the holy shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, amid prediction of another spell of rain this week. Officials said the fresh batch of pilgrims, including 1,039 women and 203 sadhus, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here in a convoy of vehicles under tight security arrangements in the early hours today and are expected to reach base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal in the Valley later in the day. A convoy of 67 vehicles heading for Baltal for their onward journey through the 12-km arduous track was the first to leave with 1,822 pilgrims, including 476 women, and was followed by second convoy of 128 vehicles with 3,322 pilgrims including 544 women and 203 sadhus who had opted the 36-km traditional Pahalgam route, the officials said.

A total of 40,935 pilgrims had so far joined the yatra from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp, while rest of the pilgrims had directly reached the base camps on their own and had 'darshan' (glimpse) at the shrine. The MeT office has again predicted wet weather from today till July 15 with heavy rains at isolated places. The officials said the weather is being monitored on hourly basis, especially along the yatra track and all necessary precautionary measures are being taken to ensure safety of the pilgrims. While heavy rains lashed Jammu this morning for over an hour, the weather along the twin tracks was cloudy but the pilgrimage was progressing smoothly and satisfactorily, they said.