SRINAGAR: The annual Amarnath Yatra began on Friday as the first batches of pilgrims left the twin base camps in Baltal and Nunwan to start their journey to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas that houses a naturally formed ice lingam, officials said.
The yatra started early morning from the twin tracks — the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route and the 14-km Baltal route — even as it rained intermittently, the officials said.
The batches of pilgrims, including men, women and sadhus, left from the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, and Baltal base camp in Sonamarg area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal, at the first light of the day, they said.
