Number of Amarnath pilgrims nearing 2 lakh

Ganderbal, Jul 13: The annual Amarnath Yatra has been progressing smoothly over the past eleven days, with the number of pilgrims steadily increasing each day.

As of Sunday, nearly 2 lakh pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the cave shrine, since it commenced on July 3.

Officials said that the 12th batch of 7,049 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu on Sunday to pay obeisance at the holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said. The pilgrims, including 1,423 women, 31 children and 136 sadhus and sadhvis, left for the twin base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal in separate convoys under tight security arrangements in the early hours of the day, they said.

The 38-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine started from the two routes on July 3 and is scheduled to end on August 9, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.

The Shrine Board and the authorities have ensured elaborated arrangements including stringent security measures this year. A multi-layered security apparatus has been deployed, with an additional 180 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) supplementing the existing presence of the Army, BSF, CRPF, SSB, and local police. Security forces are stationed across all transit camps and along the entire route from Jammu to the holy cave shrine. Locals have once again extended wholehearted support to the Yatra, reaffirming their long-standing tradition of hospitality.