Around 3.75 lakh devotees have �Darshan� in 21 days of Amaranth Yatra

 July 20 (IANS) Around 3.75 lakh devotees have performed the ongoing Amarnath Yatra so far as another batch of 3,471 pilgrims left for the Valley on Saturday. Officials said that since it began this year on June 29, around 3.75 lakh devotees have performed the Amarnath Yatra during the last 21 days. Over 11,000 devotees had ‘Darshan’ inside the cave shrine on Friday despite intermittent rain and thundershowers in the area. “Another batch of 3,471 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu for the Valley on Saturday in two escorted convoys,” an official said. He said that the first escorted convoy left at 3 am carrying 1,073 Yatris in 35 vehicles for the Baltal base camp while the second escorted convoy left at 3.45 am carrying 2398 pilgrims in 79 vehicles for the south Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp. The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon. Devotees believe that this ice stalagmite structure symbolises the mythical powers of Lord Shiva. The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 metres above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas. Devotees approach the cave shrine either from the traditional south Kashmir Pahalgam route or the Baltal route. The Pahalgam-Cave shrine axis is 48 km long and it takes the Yatris four to five days to reach the shrine. The Baltal cave shrine axis is 14 km long and it takes one day for the pilgrims to have ‘Darshan’ and reach back to the base camp. This year’s Yatra will conclude after 52 days on August 29 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals. --IANS sq/dan