Amid tight multi-layered security, more than 26,800 pilgrims have visited the holy Amarnath cave shrine in just two days, officials said on Friday.
According to official data, 14,515 pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrine till 7 PM on Friday, including 11,440 men, 2,426 women, 91 children, 221 sadhus, 9 transgender devotees, and 328 security personnel. On Thursday, 12,348 pilgrims had visited the cave, bringing the total to 26,863 in two days.
Meanwhile, the third batch of 6,411 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu early Friday and reached the Baltal (Ganderbal) and Nunwan (Pahalgam, Anantnag) base camps safely. They travelled in 291 vehicles, which included 130 buses, 46 MMVs, 113 LMVs, and 2 two-wheelers, all under a strict security escort.
The third batch included:
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4,723 males
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1,071 females
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37 children
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487 sadhus
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93 sadhvis
Of them, 2,789 pilgrims chose the Baltal route, while 3,622 headed via Pahalgam.
So far, over 3.5 lakh pilgrims have registered online for this year’s 38-day-long Amarnath Yatra, which began on July 3 and will conclude on August 9.
To manage the influx, authorities have set up 34 lodging centres in Jammu and are issuing RFID tags to all pilgrims for tracking and safety. Additionally, 12 counters are operational for on-the-spot registration.
