Over 1.60 lakh devotees have visited the holy cave shrine during the ongoing Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra (SANJY-2026). Another batch of 8,796 pilgrims departed from Jammu on Friday, marking the ninth group to leave for the Valley since the Yatra began on July 3.
The pilgrims left in two escorted convoys, with 3,350 heading to the Baltal base camp and 5,346 to the Nunwan base camp. Among the yatris were 6,426 males, 2,042 females, 228 Sadhus, 10 children, 33 foreign males, and one transgender yatri.
A total of 354 vehicles, including buses, MMVs, LMVs, and two-wheelers, were deployed for the convoy. Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha visited the Yatri camp in Srinagar and expressed satisfaction over the increased number of devotees this year, seeing it as a positive sign for tourism and the local economy.
Efforts to ensure effective crowd management, hassle-free registration, and timely information updates for pilgrims were emphasized. Strict legal action was directed against those involved in fraudulent registration practices, with four local teachers suspended and taken into custody for such activities.
Devotees trek to the 3880-metre-high cave shrine in the Kashmir Himalayas via the traditional Pahalgam route or the shorter Baltal route. The Yatra, SANJY-2026, will conclude on August 28, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.
