JAMMU, Jul 1: A second batch of more than 4,400 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here on Saturday in a secured convoy on a pilgrimage to the 3,888-meter-high Amarnath cave shrine.
The pilgrims left the base camp in the morning in a cavalcade of 188 vehicles. With this, the number of pilgrims who left for the Amarnath cave shrine from the Jammu base camp climbs to 7,904, officials said.
The 62-day-long pilgrimage commenced from Kashmir on Saturday on the twin tracks — the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter but steep 14-km-long Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
“We are very happy to start for Amarnath. I have always longed to see ‘ice lingum’ of Lord Shiva,” 62-year-old Surinder Joshi from Rajasthan said. Joshi is undertaking the pilgrimage along with his wife Kusum.
A multi-tier security setup has been activated in and around the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the annual pilgrimage.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
