Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 13: With annual Amarnath yatra picking up day by day from both Baltal and Chandanwari-Pahalgam tracks, 15,444 pilgrims paid obeisance at holy cave situated in deep Himalayas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag on Day 16 of the yatra today.
With this, the total number of pilgrims, who paid their obeisance in holy cave since the 45 day long yatra started on June 28 has reached 2,11,844 an official spokesman said.
He said the yatra is picking up day by day and thousands of devotees are thronging holy cave daily for darshan.
He said 8316 pilgrims left for the cave from Baltal base camp early this morning while 7000 left from Nunwan –Pahalgam Base camp for cave shrine.
He said the yatris who had a night halt at Chandanwari, Sheshnag and Panchtarni also left for cave shrine in the morning. Over 1.90 lakh yatris out of 2.11 lakh pilgrims who performed darshan in cave shrine have returned to Srinagar so far, he added.
The spokesman said the weather on both the tracks was pleasant today.
Meanwhile, three more pilgrims have died en route the holy cave, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 25, officials said.
A 55-year-old woman pilgrim, identified as Sarojini G from Vadodara in Gujarat, died after she suffered a heart attack en route the cave shrine last evening, police said.
Two male pilgrims also passed away following cardiac arrest en route the shrine on Friday night but their identities are not yet known, they said.
With this, the death toll of Amarnath pilgrims has risen to 25 since the yatra began on June 28.
The spokesman said, 2139 pilgrims left for holy cave from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas early this morning under tight security in a cavalcade of 59 vehicle. They included 1631 male, 395 female, 33 children and 80 Sadhus. All the pilgrims had reached the base camp of Nunwan (Pahalgam) in Anantnag district and Manigam camp in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal when last reports came in.
The 45 day long yatra will culminate on Sawan Purnima falling on August 11 with the darshan of holy mace being taken by Mahant Deependera Giri Ji Maharaj from Dashnami Akhara to holy cave.
Follow our WhatsApp channel