The 38-day pilgrimage to the three,880-metre-high shrine, which commenced on July 3 from the valley, has recorded darshan of the ice lingam of Lord Shiva by greater than 3.77 lakh pilgrims.
Escorted by CRPF and police personnel, the twenty third batch of 1,635 pilgrims, which included 1,303 males, 286 girls, 4 youngsters, and 42 sadhus and sadhvis, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp right here in 59 automobiles for the dual base camps in Kashmir between 3:25 am and 4:00 am, the officers stated.
The primary convoy, carrying 374 pilgrims in 17 automobiles, left for the shorter however steeper 14-km Baltal route within the Ganderbal district, adopted by the second convoy of 1,262 pilgrims in 62 automobiles, who're endeavor the yatra by way of the 48-km conventional Pahalgam route within the Anantnag district, they stated.
Chanting “Bum Bum Bhole” and ”Har Har Mahdev” with enthusiasm, pilgrims braved heavy rains whereas leaving for the cave shrine.
With this, a complete of 14,12,95 pilgrims have departed from the Jammu base camp for the valley since July 2, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the primary batch.Final yr, greater than 5.10 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance on the cave shrine, which homes a naturally fashioned ice lingam.
The pilgrimage is scheduled to finish on August 9, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan pageant.
