Amarnath Yatra set to breach two Lakh mark today, 5210 more leave

SRINAGAR: A total of 10,833 pilgrims paid obeisance at the naturally formed ice lingam in the cave shrine of Amarnath on Monday, taking the total visitors this year to 1,93,545, even as the 14th batch of 5210 pilgrims left Jammu for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam in Kashmir.

This year’s pilgrimage is likely to cross 2 lakh mark on Tuesday, the fastest since 2015. It has taken 23 days to cross the mark in 2016, 18 in 2017 and 20 days in 2018.

“On the 15th day of the ongoing Shri Amarnathji Yatra, 10,833 yatris paid obeisance at the holy cave. Till date, 1,93,545 yatris have had the darshan of the Shivling," a spokesperson of the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board said.

With this, the number of pilgrims who have visited the shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas is inching close to 2 lakh mark, even as more than a month duration of the pilgrimage is left, they said.

The annual Amarnath pilgrimage commenced on July 1 and will conclude on August 15, coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Earlier, amid tight security, the 14th batch of 5,210 Amarnath pilgrims left a base camp from Jammu on Monday for the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir.

The 14th batch comprises 3,711 males, 1,386 females, 19 children and 94 seers, who left in a fleet of 222 vehicles from the Bhagwati Nagar camp here this morning for the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal, officials said.

For the Pahalgam route, 2,838 pilgrims left the base camp, while 2,372 pilgrims left for Baltal. They are travelling in 123 buses and 99 small vehicles, which were escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the officials said.

With this, a total of 71,630 pilgrims had so far left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp since the commencement of the yatra from Jammu on June 30, a day ahead of the official start of the pilgrimage from the twin tracks -- traditional 36-km Pahalgam in Anantnag district and 14-km shorter Baltal in Ganderbal district, the officials said.

Multi-tier security arrangements have been made for smooth and successful conduct of the yatra, which will conclude on August 15.

As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims had paid obeisance at the cave last year. The number of pilgrims was 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in 2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017.