Record-Breaking Pilgrimage: Amarnath Yatra Surges Past Expectations

Over 1,600 pilgrims left the Jammu base camp for the Amarnath cave shrine under tight security. This year's yatra has seen over 4.7 lakh devotees. The 34th batch, escorted by CRPF, departed early morning, with many taking either the traditional or a shorter, steeper route.

In the early hours of Wednesday, a fresh batch of more than 1,600 pilgrims left the Jammu base camp heading towards the Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, under stringent security measures, according to officials.

This year’s yatra has already surpassed the 4.5 lakh mark recorded last year, with over 4.7 lakh pilgrims visiting the naturally-formed ice lingam at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine so far, officials have reported.

The latest batch, numbering 1,654 pilgrims, departed from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp at 3:25 AM in a convoy of 51 vehicles, accompanied by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police for security. A majority of the pilgrims, 1,198 in total, are heading to Pahalgam to undertake the annual pilgrimage via the traditional 48-km route in Anantnag district, while 456 pilgrims have opted for the shorter, yet more challenging, 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.

Since Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch from Jammu on June 28, a total of 1,41,947 pilgrims have embarked from the Jammu base camp. The pilgrimage, which commenced on June 29, is set to conclude on August 19.