Over 1,100 Pilgrims embark on 32nd Batch of Amarnath yatra amid tight security

Amid tight security arrangements, the 32nd batch of Amarnath Yatris comprising over 1,100 pilgrims left the base camp for the holy cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas. Since the Yatra began on July 1, more than 4.3 lakh devotees have paid obeisance at the 3888-metre high shrine. The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine, which spans 62 days, started from the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag and the shorter 14-km Baltal route in the Ganderbal. On Thursday, a total of 1,198 pilgrims, including men, women, seers, and a child, departed from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in a convoy of 43 vehicles, bound for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam. Out of these, 932 pilgrims were headed to Pahalgam, while the rest, comprising 266 pilgrims, were on their way to the Baltal base camp. The Yatra is slated to conclude on August 31.