Jammu, July 5, 2025: Undeterred by heavy rain, a fresh batch of 6,979 Amarnath pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu early Saturday to embark on the sacred journey to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir, officials said.
The batch includes 5,196 men, 1,427 women, 24 children, 331 sadhus and sadhvis, and one transgender pilgrim. The pilgrims departed in two heavily guarded convoys between 3:30 AM and 4:05 AM.
Of them, 4,226 pilgrims are travelling in 161 vehicles to the Nunwan base camp via the 48-kilometre-long traditional Pahalgam route, while 2,753 pilgrims are heading toward the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route in 151 vehicles.
Since the 38-day annual Yatra began on July 3, nearly 30,000 pilgrims have offered prayers at the holy cave shrine. With today’s departure, a total of 24,528 pilgrims have left from the Jammu base camp since Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the Yatra earlier this week.
The pilgrimage continues under a robust multi-tier security setup, particularly after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives. Despite that, the spirit of the Yatra remains undeterred.
Over 3.5 lakh pilgrims have registered online so far. The administration has set up 34 accommodation centres in Jammu and introduced RFID tagging for pilgrim tracking and safety. Additionally, 12 counters are operational for on-the-spot registration at the base camp.
