Srinagar, Jul 03: On the third day of the Amarnath Yatra, nearly 14,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at the naturally formed ice lingam in the cave shrine on Wednesday, even as four devotees had to be airlifted for medical attention, officials said.
“13,835 pilgrims paid obeisance at the Holy Cave (on Wednesday). Till date, 33,694 Yatris had a ‘darshan’ of the Shivling at the holy cave,” a spokesman for the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) said.
He said that on the directions of Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is also the chairman of SASB, four pilgrims were airlifted from various halting stations for medical treatment.
“One yatri was airlifted from Panjtarni and referred to Medical Hospital Pahalgam for treatment while three others were airlifted from Sheshnag,” he added.
The spokesman said the Governor has directed the authorities to provide best medical facilities to the sick pilgrims.
The Yatra to the cave shrine commenced Monday from both Baltal and the Pahalgam routes in the Kashmir Valley.
Multi-tier security arrangements have been made for the smooth and successful conduct of the Yatra concluding on August 15.
As many as 2.85 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrine last year, while the number of pilgrims was 3.52 lakh in 2015, 3.20 lakh in 2016 and 2.60 lakh in 2017.
