Amarnath Yatra 2024: Pilgrims Leave For Cave Shrine On First Day

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first two batch pilgrims for the annual Amarnath Yatra, which began on Saturday, from the Yatri Niwas base camp in Bhagwati Nagar early Friday.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The annual Amarnath Yatra 2024 began on Saturday with the first two batches of pilgrims flagged off from the twin base camps in Baltal and Nunwan to start their journey to the 3880-metre above the sea level cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas.

The pilgrims began their journey towards Amarnath cave, the abode of Lord Shiva amid chants of 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Bum Bum Bole' through the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter but steep 14-km-long Baltal route in Ganderbal district.

The nodal officer of yatra, District Development Commissioner Anantnag Sayed Fakhar ud din Hamid with other officers of civil and police administration flagged off the batch of pilgrims from Nunwan base camp Pahalgam.

On Friday , Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch of pilgrims for the annual Amarnath Yatra from the Bhagwati Nagar camp in Jammu. As many as 3.5 lakh pilgrims have already registered for the Yatra so far.

The 52-day pilgrimage will conclude on August 19. In Jammu division, the second batch of 1,881 pilgrims also left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp amid tight security on the same day, which included 427 women and 294 seers in 200 vehicles in two separate convoys escorted by security forces.

The first convoy carrying 1,069 devotees to Baltal left at 4 am and the second with 812 pilgrims started its journey to Pahalgam 30 minutes later.

The pilgrims will pay obeisance at the cave shrine which houses the naturally formed ice-'lingam'. Stringent security arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the yatra.

Thousands of security personnel from the police, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and other paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure foolproof security.

WEATHER FORECAST

Meanwhile, the local meteorological department has forecast generally dry weather during the next three days in Kashmir valley with day temperatures expected to rise by 2-3°C. However, in a few areas, short thundershowers can't be ruled out, especially during the later part of the day/early morning, the Met department said.

In Jammu region, overnight or early morning monsoon showers are possible in Jammu plains like Jammu, Samba, Kathua, and Udhampur districts during the next three days. For Poonch (55%), Rajouri (45%), Kishtwar (40%), and Doda (35%) districts, the possibility of thunderstorms will remain during the late afternoon /evening hours. A major spell of wet weather is possible in Jammu and Kashmir around July 5 and 6 with 60 percent chances.

Read More