The 57-day journey will conclude on August 28.
Srinagar. The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave, located at an altitude of 3,880 meters in the South Kashmir Himalayas, began on Friday with the group of pilgrims leaving from Baltal and Nunawan base camps. The officers provided this information. There is a naturally formed ice Shivalinga in the Amarnath cave.
The yatra began early in the morning on both the routes – the 48 km long Nunwan-Pahalgam route and the 14 km long Baltal route – amid intermittent rain, officials said.
He said that the group of devotees, including men, women and sadhus, left at daybreak from Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district and Baltal base camp in Sonamarg in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
Officials said that the concerned Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police flagged off the group from the base camps. During this, the entire atmosphere echoed with the cheers of ‘Bam-Bam Bhole’.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday flagged off the first batch of over 4,809 pilgrims from the base camp in Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu. The devotees reached Kashmir Valley in the afternoon, where they were warmly welcomed by the administration and local people.
Devotees will worship in the naturally formed cave with ice Shivalinga. Strict security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the yatra. Thousands of police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure security. Apart from this, monitoring will also be done from the airspace. This 57-day journey will conclude on 28th August.
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