Despite inclement weather and a cold wave, over 7,000 pilgrims from various parts of the country visited the holy cave of Swami Amarnath Ji in the deep Himalayas of South Kashmir's Anantnag district on the 31st day of the 52-day pilgrimage.
Officials reported that 7,556 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave despite morning rainfall that temporarily disrupted the yatra.
Pilgrims arrived via the Baltal-Sonamarg and Nunwan-Pahalgam routes, as well as by helicopter services.
"The temperature has dipped in the Yatra area due to the morning rainfall. However, the Yatra proceeded smoothly later during the day from both tracks," an official said.
Of the 7,556 pilgrims who paid obeisance today, 4,364 were male, 1,791 female, 106 children, 148 sadhus, and 1,147 security personnel and service providers.
The total number of pilgrims since the yatra began on June 29 was 466,342, with 22 reported deaths, mostly due to cardiac arrest en route to the cave shrine.
Pilgrims who performed darshan began their return journeys to Baltal base camp and Panchtarni camp en route to Pahalgam. Most of the 466,000 devotees have returned to their home states, while others are still on their way.
A fresh batch of 1,832 pilgrims left for the twin base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam and Baltal-Sonamarg early this morning from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas, Jammu, under tight security.
This was the 32nd batch of pilgrims since the first batch was flagged off on June 28. These pilgrims included 1,358 males, 338 females, two children, 97 sadhus, and 12 sadhvis.
Among them, 569 pilgrims chose the Baltal-Domail track, while 1,263 opted for the Pahalgam-Chandanwari route. They reached their destination by evening and will leave for the holy cave early tomorrow morning.
The 52-day long yatra to the 3,888-metre-high Himalayan cave will culminate on Shravan Purnima, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival on August 19.
The holy mace, led by Mahant Deependra Giri will reach the cave shrine from its abode at Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar.
Follow us
