Massive cloudburst has been reported near the holy cave of Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir today. At least two langars near the holy cave have been affected by the cloudburst. No casualties have been reported so far.
Earlier today, the tenth batch of over 6,100 Amarnath pilgrims left here on Friday for the double base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
A total of 6,159 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in a convoy of 249 vehicles amid tight security of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), he said. Of these, 4,754 are men, 1,220 women, 35 children, 139 sadhus and 12 sadhvis.
He said that 2,037 pilgrims going to Baltal first left Bhagwati Nagar camp in 95 vehicles at 3.30 am, followed by another convoy of 154 vehicles carrying 4,122 pilgrims for Pahalgam.
A total of 63,487 pilgrims have reached the Valley from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp since June 29 – when the first batch of pilgrims was flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The annual 43-day yatra began on June 30 from dual base camps – 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and 14-km short Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.
Officials said so far over one lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the cave temple, which has a naturally formed ice-shivalingam.
The yatra is scheduled to end on August 11, on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.