1289 pilgrims leave for Amarnath

Jammu, July 22: The 21st batch, comprising 1289 pilgrims, today left for the Pehalgam and Baltal base camps from where they will leave for the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir, official sources said.

The convoy of 45 vehicles, including 29 buses, 17 light motor vehicles (LMV) and a truck, departed from the base camp of Maulana Azad Memorial (MAM) stadium amid tight security for Nunwan (Pehalgam) and Baltal yatra camps at around 0510 hrs, they added.

The convoy included 800 men, 203 women, 34 children and 203 sadhus.

With today's batch, a total of 38,766 pilgrims have left for the holy shrine from the Jammu base camp since July 2, the sources said, adding that on an average 4,000 to 5,000 devotees have been paying obeisance to the ice lingam at the holy cave every day.

UNI