Over 50,000 devotees visit Amarnath cave shrine in first four days of pilgrimage

The 62-day long Amarnath yatra, which started on July 1, is picking up day-by-day with nearly 50,000 pilgrims paying obeisance at the 3,880-metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

The annual pilgrimage commenced on Saturday when the first batch left for the cave shrine from the twin routes of Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district and Chandanwari in southern Anantnag district.  

A total of 49,212 people completed the yatra till 7 pm, including 13,581 who paid obeisance at the cave shrine on Tuesday, an official said.

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With intelligence inputs about possible attack by the militants on the pilgrims, unprecedented security arrangements have been made to ensure the yatra remains incident-free. To ensure only bona fide pilgrims are present at the pilgrimage, authorities have asked all intending pilgrims to carry Aadhaar cards or any other biometric verified document with them.

The 62-day annual pilgrimage, longest in history, will culminate on August 31 coinciding with 'Raksha Bandhan' and 'Shravan Purnima'.

Every year, thousands of devotees undertake the yatra in July and August to pay obeisance at the shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. Last year around 3.65 lakh pilgrims offered prayers at the Shrine despite cloudburst hitting the yatra camp killing 15 pilgrims on July 8.