Over 69000 yatris have visited the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas since the start of the yatra on July 3 with over 21,000 performing the yatra on Sunday, the fourth day of the annual pilgrimage.
Officials said a total of 21,512 pilgrims paid obeisance at the 3,880-metre high cave shrine on the Himalayas in south Kashmir today.
The pilgrims included 15,758 males, 4,723 females, 300 children, 129 sadhus, 17 sadhvis, three transgenders, they said.
According to officials, the total number of pilgrims who visited the cave shrine in the first four days of the 38-day yatra has risen to 69,484.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of over 7,200 pilgrims left the base camp in Jammu on Sunday for the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The fifth batch of 7,208 pilgrims, including 1,587 women and 30 children, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in two separate convoys amid tight security arrangements between 3:35 a.m. and 4:15 a.m., the officials said.
This was the largest batch of pilgrims since Wednesday (July 2, 2025), when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the yatra from here.
The first pilgrim convoy carrying 3,199 pilgrims in 147 vehicles left for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district followed by second convoy of 4,009 pilgrims in 160 vehicles who are undertaking the yatra from the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district, the officials said.
The pilgrims braved heavy rains which lashed wide parts of Jammu throughout the night.
The yatra goes on as usual, albeit in tighter security, despite the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which 26 men were killed.
The Bhagwati Nagar base camp has been put under a multi-tier security cover in the backdrop of the April 22 Pahalgam attack that left 26 people dead.
More than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage so far. Thirty-four accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being issued to the pilgrims. Twelve counters have been set up for an on-the-spot registration of pilgrims.
Meanwhile, a 49-year-old Amarnath Yatri from Uttar Pradesh died of a suspected heart attack while on the pilgrimage route in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district today.
The deceased was identified as Rakesh Kumar Soni, son of Shehnarawan Soni, a resident of Pantnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
He was initially rushed to District Hospital Ganderbal after he reportedly complained of severe chest pain. He was referred to SKIMS Soura for specialized treatment.
“However, upon arrival at SKIMS, the pilgrim was declared brought dead by the attending doctors,” official said.