Pilgrims chant slogans as they depart for the sacred Amarnath cave shrine in Srinagar.
| Photo Credit: PTI
On the morning of July 21, a new group of 3,113 pilgrims, among them 707 women, departed from a base camp to participate in the annual Amarnath pilgrimage located in the South Kashmir Himalayas, according to officials.
The 52-day yatra commenced from the twin routes of Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal districts on June 29.
So far, nearly 3.90 lakh pilgrims have paid their obeisance at the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine, housing the naturally formed ice-shivling.
The 24th group of pilgrims, including 87 Sadhus and 15 Sadhvis, departed from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a convoy of 123 vehicles at approximately 2:55 a.m., under strict security measures, according to officials.
While 1,960 pilgrims will take the 48 km traditional Pahalgam route for their yatra, 1,153 pilgrims have opted for the shorter but steep 14 km Baltal route, the officials said.
The yatra will culminate on ‘Shravan Purnima’, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan on August 19. Last year, over 4.5 lakh pilgrims offered their prayers at the shrine.
