Pilgrims from across the country have started arriving here to join the annual Amarnath Yatra, which is scheduled to start from July 1. Groups of over 200 pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand arrived at the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here on Tuesday.
The pilgrims chanted "Bum Bum Boley" and "Baba Amarnath ki Jai" at the basecamp. The pilgrims were upbeat about offering prayers at the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
"I have come for the Amarnath Yatra for the seventh time. Ours is a group of 28 people," a devotee, Surinder Kumar, told PTI. Ajay Singh of Lucknow said, "I am very happy to undertake the Amarnath Yatra for the first time. Before coming here, we were on a 15-day tour of various pilgrimage centres, including Haridwar and Mata Vaishnodevi shrine."
The 62-day Amarnath Yatra will commence on July 1 from the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
The first batch of pilgrims, including a group of Sadhus, will leave for the yatra on June 30. The local administration conducted various safety and disaster management drills at the base camp on Tuesday, an official said.
