Srinagar: Surpassing all previous records, more than 1.5 lakh pilgrims have journeyed to the Amarnath cave in south Kashmir Himalayas during the first week of the annual Yatra, which commenced on June 29.
As per officials, 21,650 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave till now.
While a fresh batch of 6919 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu towards twin base camps of Baltal in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Nunwan -Pahalgam in Anantnag district under tight security measures early Friday morning.
On the sixth day, 21,650 pilgrims visited the cave.
With this, the total number of pilgrims visiting the 3888-metre-high cave shrine in the deep Himalayas during the last seven days since the yatra started has reached 1,51,946, surpassing all the previous records.
Officials said among the 21,650 pilgrims who performed darshan on Thursday included 15,151 male, 4,147 female, 275 children, 374 Sadhus, two Sadhvis and over 1700 security personnel and service providers.
According to available data, in 2023, the yatra crossed the 1.5 lakh mark on the 20th day of its commencement.
Meanwhile, the eighth batch of 6919 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir Valley to perform the pilgrimage.
