1,180 PILGRIMS LEAVE FOR AMARNATH

JAMMU: A fresh batch of over 1,100 pilgrims left for the Amarnath Yatra on Saturday, an official said. “The batch of 1,180 left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas at 3:40 am in an escorted convoy of 43 vehicles ,” he said.

There were 787 males, 243 females and 150 sadhus in the convoy. The pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine that began on June 29, entered its 24th day on Saturday.

The 40-day pilgrimage will end on August 7 on “Shravan Purnima” coinciding with Raksha Bandhan. Pilgrims have to start their journey early as no vehicles carrying pilgrims are allowed to cross the Jawahar Tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar highway after 3.30 pm due to security reasons.

The precaution was taken to ensure the vehicles reach base camps in Baltal in the north and Pahalgam in the south of the Kashmir Valley before sunset.

From the two base camps, the pilgrims have to take a treacherous mountain trek. The traditional Pahalgam route is 46-km long and takes around four days, while the one from Baltal is 14 km. A total of 48 pilgrims have died during the yatra in 2017. Of these 17 died in a road accident on Jammu-Srinagar highway on July 16, while eight were killed in a terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims at Batengo in Anantnag district on July 10. Another 23 died due to natural causes.

Situated at 3,888 metres above the sea-level, the Amarnath cave houses an ice stalagmite that devotees believe symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva.