Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 21: On 24st day of ongoing yatra over 5000 pilgrims performed darshan at holy cave of Swami Amarnath in South Kashmir district of Anantnag today.
According to an officer on yatra duty, 5667 pilgrims from two tracks of Baltal and Chandanwari performed darshan at cave shrine situated at an altitude of 3880 meters today.
He said till date 2,30,007 pilgrims drawn from different parts of the country and abroad have performed darshan of Ice Lingam in the holy cave and majority of the pilgrims out of them have returned to their home states by now while others are on the way.
He said the yatra is proceeding smoothly and weather remained pleasant on yatra routes and base camps during the day.
He said 1866 pilgrims left Baltal to holy cave early this morning by foot while 915 left by chopper during the day. These pilgrims performed the darshan in the cave shrine by this evening while the 1966 pilgrims who left for holy cave from Chandanwari and Nunwan Base Camp will stay at Sheshnag and Panjtarni for two nights before performing darshan to holy cave as the track from Nunwan to cave shrine is lengthy and hazardous.
He said over 5000 pilgrims are staying at Baltal base camp for night while over 3000 left for Srinagar early this morning for their onwards journey to their home states.
Yatra Nodal Officer Arun Manhas said that 1157 including 75 Sadhus were registered at three registration counters at Jammu today.
He said over 2000 pilgrims are staying for night at different lodges and Baba Amarnath Yatri Niwas Bhagwati Nagar.
Meanwhile the 21st batch of Amarnath pilgrims today left the base camp here for the holy cave shrine as traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was restored after remaining suspended for several hours following a landslide, officials said today.
After receiving a green signal from the traffic authorities, the officials said a fresh batch of 1,632 pilgrims, including 428 women and 50 sadhus, were allowed from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas for Kashmir under tight security cover in the wee hours today.
While 1,011 pilgrims, including 184 women and 50 sadhus, are heading for the Nunwan base camp to undertake the yatra to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath from the traditional 36-km Pahalgam track, 621 people, including 244 women, are heading for the Baltal base camp after choosing the 12-km shorter route to the shrine, the officials said.
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