5,284 pilgrims left for Amarnath cave shrine from Jammu
The Hindu
So far till today, over 1.65 lakh pilgrims had offered their prayers at the cave shrine
The 18th batch of over 5,200 Amarnath pilgrims left from Jammu on July 17 for twin base camps in south Kashmir Himalayas for the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath, officials said.
A total of 5,284 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in a convoy of 225 vehicles amid heavy security of CRPF, the officials said.
They said that 1,743 pilgrims heading for Baltal were the first to leave in 87 vehicles around 3.20 a.m., followed by the second convoy of 138 vehicles carrying 3,541 pilgrims for Pahalgam at 4.20 a.m.
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The annual 43-day yatra commenced on June 30 from the twin base camps — traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag and 14-km shorter route from Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal.
So far till today, over 1.65 lakh pilgrims had offered their prayers at the cave shrine, housing the naturally formed ice-shivlingam, the officials said.
With this, a total of 1,05,109 pilgrims have left from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the Valley since June 29, the day the first batch of pilgrims was flagged off by Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha.
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