72 thousand visited in five days, devotees are also attending the court by helicopter

Over 18,000 pilgrims visited the holy cave on the fifth day of the Amarnath Yatra on Wednesday, while another batch of 6,554 pilgrims left for the Valley from Jammu on Thursday. The annual Amarnath Yatra is running smoothly through both the South Kashmir Pahalgam and North Kashmir Baltal routes. Officials said over 18,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at Baba Barfani on Wednesday. He said, “Another batch of 6,554 pilgrims left for the valley today (Thursday) from Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu in a escorted convoy.
Today’s batch of yatris includes 5,053 men, 1,375 women, 25 children, 95 sadhus and 6 sadhvis, officials said. Pilgrims reach the Himalayan cave shrine either by the traditional Pahalgam route in south Kashmir, which involves a 43 km climb from Pahalgam Base Camp, or by a 13 km climb from Baltal Base Camp in north Kashmir. Those using the traditional Pahalgam route take 3-4 days to reach the cave temple, while those using the Baltal route reach the base camp the same day after having a ‘darshan’ inside the cave temple located 3,888 meters above sea level. come back
Helicopter services are also available for the pilgrims on both the routes. The cave temple has an ice structure which devotees believe symbolizes the mythical powers of Lord Shiva. The ice stalagmite structure waxes and wanes with the phases of the Moon. This year’s 62-day Amarnath Yatra began on July 1 and will conclude on August 31 with the Shravan Purnima festival. To protect the pilgrims from altitude sickness, the authorities have banned all junk food at ‘langars’ set up on both the routes of the yatra.