Pahalgam, July 6 (IANS) The Shri Amarnath Yatra continued smoothly on Monday as the fifth batch of pilgrims departed from Jammu for Srinagar amid rain and tight security arrangements, while devotees also began their onward journey from the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, Kashmir, towards the holy cave shrine.

At Pahalgam, pilgrims expressed gratitude and devotion as they began the arduous trek to the holy cave of Amarnath.

Speaking to IANS, a devotee said, “…I pray that, by God’s grace, these arrangements continue uninterrupted. I would request the administration that, by the blessings of the Lord, such arrangements should always be maintained… There has been a tremendous change. I remember in 2013, during the Kishtwar incident, terrorists beheaded four of our soldiers and even played football with their heads. At that time, the situation was extremely bad…”

Another pilgrim shared appreciation for the security forces, saying, “… I am coming for the second time, and there is a lot of excitement and a lot of blessings of Baba… Our military is doing a very good job, no doubt, and they are cooperative in everything. I just want people to also cooperate a little with the military because it is very important…”

A devotee travelling from Delhi said, “I have come from Delhi. I had done the registration offline from there. I did not face any problems there. Here also, I easily got the RFID made from the airport…”

Another pilgrim said, “…This is my first time, and I am very happy”.

Officials said the Yatra is witnessing a steady flow of pilgrims from across the country despite intermittent rain and security arrangements along both routes.

Over 56,000 devotees had ‘darshan’ inside the holy cave in the last three days since the Amarnath Yatra (SANJY-2026) started on July 3 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Over 24,000 pilgrims from different parts of the country paid obeisance at the holy cave on Sunday, the third day of the Yatra.

Reports said that 24,648 pilgrims from the twin tracks of Baltal and Pahalgam-Chandanwari reached the holy cave situated at an altitude of 3,880 metres by Sunday evening.

It may be recalled that in the first two days after the Yatra began on Friday, a total of 32,313 pilgrims had visited the shrine.

Since its start, a total of 56,961 pilgrims have had darshan at the holy cave in three days. The weather in the shrine area remained partially cloudy, but the Yatra proceeded smoothly throughout Sunday on both routes.

Pilgrims who completed darshan returned to their respective base camps by evening. Meanwhile, a heavy rush of devotees continues at both Baltal and Nunwan base camps, with thousands arriving daily from across the country, even as authorities continue to appeal to pilgrims not to proceed for darshan before their allotted schedule.

–IANS

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