According to sources, the fifth batch of over 6,500 Amarnath pilgrims left Jammu in the early hours of Tuesday for the twin base camps in Kashmir. On July 1, the 62-day yearly pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas began from the twin roads of Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal.
The pilgrim footfall at the temple is expected to reach the 50,000 mark later in the day, according to officials, as the yatra is proceeding smoothly, with devotees from around the country thronging the base camps to see the naturally created ice-shivlingam and offer their prayers.
In the early hours of Tuesday, a convoy of 253 trucks carrying 6,597 pilgrims, including 1,429 women, 160 seers, and 33 children, left Bhagwati Nagar base camp towards the valley, they claimed. According to officials, a convoy of 160 cars carrying 4,475 pilgrims left for Pahalgam at roughly 4.10 a.m., while another convoy of 93 vehicles with 2,122 pilgrims left for Baltal base camp at 3.40 a.m.
With this, a total of 24,162 pilgrims have left Jammu’s base camp for the valley since June 30, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch of pilgrims. The yatra is expected to end on August 31.
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