Jammu, July 18: Over 3.5 lakh devotees had ‘Darshan’ inside Amarnath cave shrine over the last 19 days as another batch of 4,383 pilgrims left for Kashmir valley on Thursday.

The annual Yatra to the Himalayan cave shrine situated in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir has been going on peacefully with police and CAPF providing security on the Yatra route, its transit and base camps, in addition to the two Yatra tracks from south and north Kashmir approaches.

Officials said that 13,000 Yatris had Darshan inside the cave shrine on Wednesday, while over 3.5 lakh have performed the ongoing Yatra to Amarnath since it started on June 29.

"Another batch of 4,383 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu in two escorted convoys for the valley today. Of these, the first escorted convoy carrying 1,701 Yatris in 66 vehicles, left at 3.14 a.m. for north Kashmir's Baltal base camp," said officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the affairs of the annual Yatra.

“Second escorted convoy carrying 2,682 Yatris in 91 vehicles left at 4 a.m. for south Kashmir's Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp,” they added.

SASB is headed by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.

The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite that wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon. Devotees believe that this ice stalagmite structure symbolises the mythical powers of Lord Shiva.

The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 metres above sea level in Kashmir. Devotees approach the cave shrine either from the traditional south Kashmir (Pahalgam) route or the north Kashmir (Baltal) route.

The Pahalgam-cave shrine axis is 48 km long and it takes pilgrims four to five days to reach the shrine. The Baltal-cave shrine axis is 14 km long and it takes one day for the pilgrims to have ‘Darshan’ and return to the base camp.

On Thursday, 4,434 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu in two escorted convoys for the valley.

The first escorted convoy carrying 1,721 pilgrims in 64 vehicles left at 3 a.m. for Baltal base camp. The second escorted convoy carrying 2,713 pilgrims in 101 vehicles left at 3.35 a.m. for Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp.

This year’s Yatra will conclude after 52 days on August 29 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.

--IANS

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