8,796 pilgrims leave Jammu base camp for Amarnath Yatra in ninth batch

Pilgrims walk past a metal cutout bearing the Lord Shiva`s image atop a poll as they proceed towards the holy cave shrine of Amarnath during the ongoing `Amarnath Yatra`, at Baltal area, in Ganderbal district, Jammu and Kashmir. Image courtesy: PTI

A ninth batch of 8,796 pilgrims, including 33 foreigners, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here on Wednesday for the annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district amid multi-tier security, officials said.

More than 1.73 lakh pilgrims have had ''darshan'' of the naturally formed ice ''lingam'' of Lord Shiva at the 3,880-metre high cave shrine since the Yatra commenced on July 2, they said.
On Friday,

8796 pilgrims left the base camp here in 354 vehicles, including 6,046 men, 2,042 women, 228 sadhus, 56 sadhvis, 10 children, one transperson, and 33 foreigners.

According to the officials, the convoy departed in two separate groups. The Baltal axis convoy carrying 3,450 pilgrims left at 3:35 am, while the Pahalgam axis convoy with 5,346 pilgrims departed at 4 am amid chants of ''Bam Bam Bhole'', ''Har Har Mahadev'' and ''Jai Barfani Baba Ki''.

With Friday''s departures, a total of 61,612 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for Kashmir since the Yatra commenced on July 2.

The 57-day Amarnath Yatra will conclude on August 28.

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