Srinagar: More than 21,000 devotees had a darshan of the naturally formed ice Shivling inside the holy cave shrine of Amarnath on the fourth day of the annual pilgrimage on Sunday, officials said.
A total of 21,512 pilgrims paid obeisance at the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine on the Himalayas in south Kashmir on Sunday, they said.
The pilgrims included 15,758 males, 4,723 females, 300 children, 129 sadhus, 17 sadhvis, three transgenders and 582 security forces, officials said.
The total number of pilgrims who visited the cave shrine in the first four days of the 38-day yatra has risen to 69,484, they added.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the ongoing pilgrimage has reached three as a pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh died due to cardiac arrest, they said.
Rakesh Kumar Soni, 49, a resident of Pant Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, fell sick at Baltal. He was referred to a hospital in Srinagar where doctors declared him dead on arrival, according to officials.
Fresh batch of 7,200 pilgrims leaves Jammu for Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir
Amid incessant rains, a fresh batch of over 7,200 pilgrims left the base camp here early Sunday for the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.
The 38-day annual pilgrimage, which started on July 3, crossed the 50,000 mark on Sunday.
The fifth batch of 7,208 pilgrims, including 1,587 women and 30 children, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in two separate convoys amid tight security arrangements between 3.35 am and 4.15 am, the officials said.
This was the largest batch of pilgrims since Wednesday, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the yatra from here.
With this, a total of 31,736 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the valley.
The first pilgrim convoy carrying 3,199 pilgrims in 147 vehicles left for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district followed by second convoy of 4,009 pilgrims in 160 vehicles who are undertaking the yatra from the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district, the officials said.
The pilgrims braved heavy rains which lashed wide parts of Jammu throughout the night.
So far, over 50,000 pilgrims have visited the 3,880 metre high cave shrine of Amarnath since the commencement of the yatra on July 3, the officials said.
The yatra goes on as usual, albeit in tighter security, despite the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 men were gunned down.
The Bhagwati Nagar base camp has been put under a multi-tier security cover in the backdrop of the April 22 Pahalgam attack that left 26 people dead.
More than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage so far. Thirty-four accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being issued to the pilgrims. Twelve counters have been set up for an on-the-spot registration of pilgrims.
Pilgrim dies of suspected heart attack
A 49-year-old Amarnath Yatri from Uttar Pradesh died of a suspected heart attack while on the pilgrimage route in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Sunday.
An official said that the deceased has been identified as Rakesh Kumar Soni, son of Shehnarawan Soni, a resident of Pantnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
He was initially rushed to District Hospital Ganderbal after he reportedly complained of severe chest pain. He was referred to SKIMS Soura for specialized treatment.
“However, upon arrival at SKIMS, the pilgrim was declared brought dead by the attending doctors,” the official said. (JKNS)
