Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 25: Though 13 days are yet left for annual Amarnath yatra which started from here on June 28, the rush of pilgrims has considerably decreased during last some days.
On the 27th day of 40 day long yatra 2,246 pilgrims drawn from different parts of the country paid obeisance at holy cave of Lord Shiva situated at an altitude of 3880 meters in deep Himalayas in South Kashmir district of Anantnag.
With this the total pilgrims visiting the holy cave during last 27 days has touched to 2,46,509 an official spokesman said. He said 1400 pilgrims left for holy cave from twin base camps of Nunwan, Pahalgam in South Kashmiri district of Anantnag and Baltal, Sonamarg in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal this morning.
Out of them 661 pilgrims left via shortest 14 km long Domel track for holy cave while 817 left via traditional Chandanwari-Sheshnag track from Nunwan base camp.
Besides, the pilgrims having night halt at Sheshnag and Panchtarni halting stations also left for holy cave early this morning, he added.
He said the rush of pilgrims has decreased but the yatra is proceeding smoothly from both the tracks.
Meanwhile a fresh batch of 678 pilgrims left Jammu for twin base camps of Baltal and Nunwan from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here early this morning.
According to officials, this was the smallest batch of pilgrims to leave for the cave shrine so far, this year.
Escorted by the CRPF and police, the batch comprising 454 males, 125 females plus 99 sadhus and sadhvis left in a convoy of 24 vehicles for Baltal and Pahalgam base-camps this morning, officials said.
With this, a total of 66,834 pilgrims have left Jammu for Amarnath in 26 batches since the yatra began from Jammu on June 28.
As per official figures, 2,20,490 devotees offered prayers to the naturally formed ice-Shivlingam during the yatra in 2016.
However, the number of pilgrims this year is still less than 3,52,771 yatris who visited the cave shrine in 2015.
The Government has mobilised a heavy security blanket of over 35,000 to 40,000 troops including the police, the Army, the BSF and the CRPF, for the yatra.
On July 10, a bus carrying pilgrims in the Anantnag district was attacked by terrorists. Eight devotees died and 32 were injured in the attack.
The yatra will conclude on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 7.
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