6th batch of 4,422 pilgrims leave Jammu for Amarnath cave shrine

Jammu: A batch of 4,422 pilgrims left a base camp here on Friday 3,880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir amid tight security.

Over 1.5 lakh pilgrims from across the country have so far registered themselves for the 46-day pilgrimage, which takes place from the 36-km Pahalgam track in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district and the 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.

The fifth batch of 4,422 pilgrims -- including 3,670 men, 809 women and 28 children -- left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here at around 3.30 am for Pahalgam and Baltal in a fleet of 185 vehicles escorted by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, officials said. Over 50,000 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the cave shrine till Thursday evening, they said.

The annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine commenced on Monday from both Baltal and Pahalgam routes in the Kashmir valley. The first batch of pilgrims was flagged off from here on Sunday.

Multi-tier security arrangements have been put in place for smooth and successful conduct of the pilgrimage scheduled to conclude on August 15. As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims had paid obeisance at the cave shrine last year, while the numbers were 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in 2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017.