Thousands of Pilgrims Visit Amarnath Cave Shrine Amid Tight Security

Over 74,000 pilgrims from across the country have paid obeisance at the holy cave of Shri Amarnath Ji as of July 2nd, marking the fourth day of the annual yatra, which began on June 29th from the Baltal and Nunwan-Pahalgam routes.

Officials reported that by Tuesday evening, 22,715 pilgrims had darshan of the ice lingam at the Amarnath cave. This brings the total number of visitors to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in the Himalayas to 74,696 since the pilgrimage commenced.

“Stringent security arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the Yatra,” an official said. Thousands of security personnel from the police, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and other paramilitary forces have been deployed along the route. Additionally, aerial surveillance is being conducted.

Meanwhile, the 6th batch of 5,725 pilgrims departed from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir Valley to perform the pilgrimage to the Amarnath Cave Shrine.

Chanting ‘Bam Bam Bhole’, the pilgrims left the base camp in a convoy of 238 vehicles early this morning. This group included 4,481 men, 1,034 women, 25 children, 173 sadhus, and 12 sadhvis (female sadhus). Of these, 2,514 pilgrims departed for Baltal at 3:25 AM and 3,211 for the Pahalgam base camp at 3:45 AM.

These pilgrims are expected to reach their respective base camps by this evening, from where they will proceed towards the holy cave early tomorrow morning under tight security measures.

More than 125 free langars (community kitchens) have been established by philanthropic organisations at the base camps and along the yatra route up to the holy cave to serve the pilgrims.

The 52-day-long Amarnath Ji Yatra will conclude on 19th August this year, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Shravan Poornima and the festival of Raksha Bandhan.Last year, over 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine.(KNO)