The third batch of 4,823 Amarnath pilgrims left a base camp here Tuesday for the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir. As many as 8,403 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the shrine in the Himalayas till Monday evening, officials said. For the Pahalgam route, 2,584 pilgrims left the base camp, while 2,239 pilgrims for Baltal left in 114 and 109 buses and cars, which were escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), officials said. As many as 6,884 devotees left from Baltal and 3,065 from Pahalgam route on Monday, they said, adding that the first batch was flagged off from here on Sunday. As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave last year, while the number of pilgrims was 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in 2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017.

Source: The Hindu July 02, 2019 07:06 UTC