Over four lakh devotees perform ongoing Amarnath Yatra in 24 days

 July 23 (IANS) Over four lakh pilgrims have performed the ongoing Amarnath Yatra during the last 24 days as another batch of 2,484 devotees left Jammu for Kashmir on Tuesday. Officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the affairs of the annual Yatra, said that over 12,000 Yatris performed the Yatra on Monday, the first day of the Hindu auspicious month, Shravan. “Another batch of 2,484 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu for the Valley today in two escorted convoys. The first escorted convoy left at 3.25 a.m. carrying 770 Yatris in 34 vehicles for the North Kashmir Baltal base camp. The second escorted convoy left at 4 a.m. carrying 1,714 Yatris in 57 vehicles for the South Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp,” the officials said. 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 North Kashmir Baltal route. The Pahalgam-Cave shrine axis is 48 Km long and takes Yatris 4-5 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 return to the base camp. This year’s Yatra will conclude after 52 days on August 19 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals. --IANS sq/dpb