Over 8,000 Pilgrims Offer Prayers At Amarnath Shrine On Opening Day Of Annual Yatra
Jammu (India), 2nd July 2023: On Sunday, officials reported that a fresh group of 4,903 pilgrims departed from the base camp to embark on the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, situated at an altitude of 3,880 meters in the South Kashmir Himalayas. This brings the total number of pilgrims undertaking the journey since June 30, when Lt Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated the first batch, to 12,807.
On the opening day of the 62-day yatra, over 8,000 pilgrims visited the shrine to offer their prayers. The pilgrimage commenced from two different routes: the traditional 48-kilometre Nunwan-Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district and the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route in the Ganderbal district on Saturday.
According to officials, a group of 2,557 devotees, including 379 women and 226 sadhus, departed for Pahalgam in 104 vehicles, while another convoy of 131 vehicles transported 2,346 pilgrims to the Baltal base camp early on the same day. Over 350,000 individuals have registered online for the pilgrimage thus far.
