Amarnath Yatra temporarily suspended following heavy rainfall

Meanwhile, over 1.44 lakh yatris have performed the ongoing Amarnath Yatra as another batch of 5,449 pilgrims left Jammu for the Valley on Thursday.

Officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said 1,44,457 pilgrims have performed the yatra so far while 16,457 of these had darshan on Wednesday.

Another batch of 5,449 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu in two escorted convoys for the yatra. Of these, 3783 are going to the Pahalgam base camp while 1666 are going to the Baltal base camp.

Those using the shorter Baltal route have to trek 14 kms to reach the cave shrine while those using the longer traditional Pahalgam route have to trek 48 kms for four days to reach the cave shrine.
Helicopter services are available on both the routes for the yatris.

The annual 43-day pilgrimage commenced on 30 June (after a gap of over two years due to Covid-19) from the twin base camps — Nunwan in Pahalgam of south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Baltal camp in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.

The yatra is scheduled to end on 11 August on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. (KDC)