Jammu

The 10th batch of 9,182 pilgrims, including 2,435 women, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here on Saturday to pay obeisance at the holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.

The pilgrims also included 256 sadhus, 46 sadhvis and 31 children. They left for the twin base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam in Anantnag and Baltal in Ganderbal in separate convoys under tight security arrangements in the early hours of the day, they said.

While 5,877 pilgrims are heading for the Pahalgam base camp in a convoy of 206 vehicles, 3,305 pilgrims onboard 127 vehicles have preferred the Baltal route, according to officials.

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The 57-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine started from the two routes on July 3 and is scheduled to end on August 28, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival.

Over two lakh pilgrims have so far visited the shrine this year.