JAMMU, Jul 5 : Officials said, the sixth batch of more than 6,000 Amarnath pilgrims left the Jammu city in the early hours of Tuesday for the twin base camps in Kashmir.The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas began on July 1 from the twin paths of Pahalgam in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district.
The yatra is going smoothly, and devotees from all over the country are swarming the base camps to have a view of the naturally created ice-shivlingam and offer their prayers, according to the officials, who predicted that the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine will likely surpass 50,000 later in the day.A convoy of 244 trucks carrying 6,107 pilgrims, including 1,203 women, 193 seers, and 31 children, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the valley in the early hours of Wednesday. The convoy was well guarded.
According to the officials, a convoy of 140 cars carrying 3,929 pilgrims going for Pahalgam left for the valley at 3.15 am, while a separate convoy of 104 vehicles carrying 2,178 pilgrims left for the Baltal base camp first.Since Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha set off the first group of pilgrims on June 30, a total of 30,269 people have departed the Jammu base camp for the valley.
On August 31, the yatra is supposed to come to an end.
