Over 1,006 pilgrims leave Jammu for Amarnath

Over 1,000 Amarnath pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar camp here on Tuesday for the twin base camps in Kashmir to undertake the onward journey to the 3,880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine. As many as 3.97 lakh pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the shrine since the beginning of the 62-day-long annual pilgrimage on July 1. The yatra will conclude on August 31.

Of the 1,006 pilgrims in this smallest batch to leave the Bhagwati Nagar camp, 642 are performing the yatra through the traditional 48-km Pahalgam track in the Anantnag district while 382 are heading for the 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district, officials said. The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam and Baltal on July 1.