Amarnath Yatra 2017: Over 300 pilgrims leave Jammu amid tight security on 32nd day of pilgrimage

Jammu: Over 300 pilgrims left Jammu for the 3,888-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir Himalayas, amid tight security, on the 32nd day of the annual pilgrimage on Sunday, officials said.Over 2.52 lakh devotees have so far paid obeisance at the cave shrine, they said.[caption id="attachment_3806923" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. CNN-News18[/caption]"A total of 309 pilgrims — 236 men and 73 women — left Bhagwati Nagar base camp here this (Sunday) morning for Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir to undertake the pilgrimage to the holy cave, which houses the naturally-formed ice shiv lingam," the officials said.They said while 213 pilgrims preferred the shorter 16-kilometres Baltal trek in Ganderbal district, 96 others would reach Pahalgam in Anantnag district on Sunday evening and will have to trek for 42-kilometres from the base camp to reach the cave shrine on Monday.The 40-day yatra began on 29 June and is scheduled to end on 7 August, coinciding with the festival of Raksha Bandhan.During the pilgrimage this year 48 people so far died due to various causes, including a terror attack and a bus accident.While eight yatris were killed in the terror attack in Anantnag district on 10 July, a bus carrying the pilgrims from Jammu to Srinagar rolled down into a gorge near Banihal on the highway resulting in the death of 16 pilgrims on 16 July.Meanwhile, 592 pilgrims, including 151 women and two children, left for Rajouri district to take part in the 11-day ongoing Budha Amarnath yatra which began on Saturday, the officials said.