Srinagar, July 17 (IANS) Over 20,800 pilgrims had ‘darshan’ inside the Amarnath holy cave as another batch of 6,216 Yatris left Jammu for the Valley, said officials on Monday. Officials said that over 20,800 pilgrims had ‘darshan’ inside the holy cave on Sunday. Since this year’s Amarnath Yatra started on July 1, over 2.29 lakh pilgrims have performed the Yatra till Sunday.
“Another batch of 6,216 Yatris left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu in an escorted convey for the Valley this morning.
“Of these, 4204 are male, 1871 are female, 16 children, 78 Sadhus and 47 are Sadhvis,” officials said.
Since July 1 when the Yatra started this year, 25 pilgrims have died of whom 24 died of natural causes while one woman pilgrim was killed by a shooting stone on Sunday.
Two local policemen, who were part of the mounatin rescue team, were also injured while trying to rescue the woman pilgrim.
Yatris approach the Himalayan cave shrine either from the traditional south Kashmir Pahalgam route which involves an uphill trek of 43 Kms from Pahalgam base camp or from the north Kashmir Baltal base camp which involves 13 Kms uphill trek.
Those using the traditional Pahalgam route take 3-4 days to reach the cave shrine while those using the Baltal route return to the base camp the same day after having ‘darshan’ inside the cave shrine situated 3888 metres above the sea-level.
Helicopter services are also available for Yatris on both routes.
The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that devotees believe symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva.
The ice stalagmite structure wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon.
This year’s 62-day long Amarnath Yatra started on July 1 and will end on August 31 coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.
To protect the pilgrims from high altitude sickness, authorities have banned all junk food at the free community kitchens called the ‘Langars’ that have been set up along both the routes of the Yatra.
The banned items include all bottled drinks, halwai items, fried foods and tobacco based products.
– -IANS