Amarnath yatra: Last batch of 89 pilgrims leave for cave shrine from Jammu

Jammu: The last batch of 89 pilgrims today left for the cave shrine of Amarnath from Jammu to join the annual yatra which entered its last phase, officials said. [caption id=“attachment_3804007” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The shrine is located at an altitude of 3,880-metre in south Kashmir Himalayas. “All the 89 pilgrims present at the Bhagwati camp left in four vehicles amid tight security arrangements around 2.45 am. They crossed the Jawahar Tunnel — the gateway to Kashmir — along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway around forenoon,” the officials said. The final batch included 15 women and 37 seers, they said. While 56 of them have preferred the traditional 42-km Pahalgam route in Anantnag district, 33 others will join the yatra through the shorter 16-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district, they said. The yatra entered its final phase after ‘Chhari Mubarak’ (the holy mace of Lord Shiva), being carried by a group of seers, including its custodian Mahant Deepindra Giri, joined the yatra at Pahalgam on Thursday. After special prayers and other rituals, the saffron-robed holy mace was taken to Chandanwari on Friday and will reach the holy cave for final prayers on 7 August after night halts en route to Sheshnag and Panjtarni, marking the conclusion of the 40-day yatra on the occasion of ‘Raksha Bandhan’. The yatra which began on 29 June from the twin routes recorded a footfall of 2,58,414 pilgrims who paid their obeisance at the naturally formed ice-shivlingam till last evening.