Hindu devotees start going to the cave shrine of Amarnath from a base camp in Pahalgam on
The yatra started early morning from the twin tracks ¬ traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route and 14-km Baltal route.
According to officials, on Saturday June 29, 2024, the annual Amarnath Yatra began as the first batch of pilgrims left the twin base camps in Baltal and Nunwan to begin their journey to the 3880-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
Jammu and KashmirLieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had flagged off the first batch of 4,603 pilgrims from Yatri Niwas base camp in Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu on Friday morning.
The officials said that batches of pilgrims on twin routes were flagged off by respective deputy commissioners along with senior police and civil administration officers.
The annual Amarnath Yatra started early morning from the twin tracks ¬ traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route and 14-km Baltal route.
The pilgrims reached Kashmir Valley later during afternoon and received an overwhelming reception from administration as well as locals.
Pilgrims would pay reverence at this cave shrine having naturally formed ice-lingam inside it.
Stringent security arrangements have been put in place for ensuring smooth conduct of yatra.
Thousands of security personnel including those drawn from police, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and other paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure foolproof security. Aerial surveillance will also be carried out.
August 19 will mark end of this 52 day pilgrimage.
