JAMMU: officials said that the amid tight security, a fresh batch of over 7,000 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims left the base camp here early Friday morning for pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Lord Shiva in the south Kashmir Himalayas.They said that a convoy of 226 cars carrying 7,245 pilgrims—4,880 men, 1,936 women, 424 seers, and six children—left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the Valley. According to the officials, a convoy of 125 cars carrying 4,101 pilgrims left for the Pahalgam base camp, and a separate convoy of 101 vehicles carrying 3,144 pilgrims left for the Baltal base camp in the Kashmir Valley. A total of 72,789 pilgrims have departed the Jammu base camp for the valley since June 30 with this 12th batch of yatris.Since July 1, as many as 1,62,569 yatris have visited the cave shrine and received a “darshan” of the ‘Icelingum,’ according to officials. Starting from the twin pathways of Pahalgam in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal district, the 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas got underway on July 1. The yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 31.
