A new batch of 5273 pilgrims began their climb to the holy shrine of Amarnath on Wednesday. Located at a height of 3888 meters, the holy cave is situated in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The police confirmed that “Another batch of 5,273 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas today morning in two escorted convoys for the Valley. Of these, 1,777 are going to Baltal base camp while 3,496 are going to Pahalgam base camp.”
The Annual Amarnath Yatra was flagged off on 1st July this year and the number of pilgrims who had completed the darshan had already crossed 11,456 by the second day. The 46-day yatra will conclude on August 15, on the same day as Raksha Bandhan.
This time, the Centre decided to amp up the security for the yatra with 40,000 security personnel being stationed along the way and ‘barcode-enabled’ authority slip being issued to pilgrims to keep a track of the actual number of people.
Those not permitted to perform the yatra include children below the age of 13, 75 years and above age-old elderly persons and 6 weeks+ pregnant ladies.
