JAMMU: officials said that the fifth batch of more than 6,500 Amarnath pilgrims left the Jammu city in the early hours of Tuesday for the twin base camps in Kashmir.Beginning on July 1, the 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas began from the twin routes of Pahalgam in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district.According to the officials, the yatra is proceeding without a hitch, and devotees from all over the nation are thronging the base camps to observe the ice-shivlingam that was naturally formed and to offer their prayers, who anticipated that later in the day, the number of pilgrims visiting the shrine will probably approach 50,000. Early on Tuesday, a 253-truck convoy carrying 6,597 pilgrims, including 1,429 women, 160 sages, and 33 kids, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the valley while being well guarded. According to the officials, a convoy of 160 cars carrying 4,475 pilgrims going for Pahalgam left for the valley at roughly 4:10 am, while a another convoy of 93 vehicles carrying 2,122 pilgrims left for the Baltal base camp first at 3:40 am.Since Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha waved off the first group of pilgrims on June 30, a total of 24,162 have departed the Jammu base camp for the valley. On August 31, the yatra is supposed to come to an end.
