Amarnath Yatra 2019: First Batch of Over 2,200 Pilgrims Leaves for Annual Yatra to the Cave Shrine From Jammu

Jammu, June 30: The first batch of Amarnath Yatra was flagged off from Jammu base camp on Sunday amid tight security. Over 2,200 pilgrims of the annual left the Bhagwati Nagar-base camp in Jammu for the Kashmir Valley this morning. Reports inform that the pilgrims, 1,839 men, 333 women, 17 children and 45 Sadhus and Sadhvis' left the base camp in a cavalcade of 93 vehicles. On Saturday, the annual yatra was flagged off by KK Sharma, Advisor to the Governor Satya Pal Malik, after conducting a puja at the Jammu base camp on Sunday. Amarnath Yatra 2019: Schedule, Yatra Route, Helicopter Bookings and More; All You Need to Know.

The 46-day-long yatra will begin on July 1, the day of Masik Shivratri, and would conclude on August 15, the day of Shravan Purnima.  All arrangements, including security along the twin routes of Baltal and Pahalgam have been put in place for smooth conduct of the pilgrimage. The yatra to the cave shrine at an altitude of 3,880 metre in the south Kashmir Himalayas will commence from both the routes.

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Reports inform that the the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have been ordered to be on alert and provide security to the pilgrims and a multi-tier security arrangement has been planned for the yatra. The government has deployed over 40,000 security personnel as part of the security arrangement for the Amarnath Yatra.

Last year, over 2 lakh 84 thousand Yatris paid obeisance at the holy Amarnath Cave Shrine. In 2017, the total number of pilgrims, who visited the shrine, was 2,60,003 in 40 days while in 2016, as many as 2,20,490 pilgrims visited the cave shrine. The number of pilgrims was the highest in 2014, with 3,72,909 pilgrims.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 30, 2019 08:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).