July 29, 2025: In the face of stringent security measures, the 27th group of 1490 pilgrims left Jammu on Monday for the twin base camps of the 3,880-meter-high cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas.
Since the 38-day pilgrimage from the valley began on July 3, more than 3.86 lakh people have paid homage to Lord Shiva at the cave shrine's "ice lingum." According to officials, the 27th batch of pilgrims, which consisted of 1,262 men, 186 women, 42 sadhus, and sadhvis, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in 61 vehicles for the twin base camps in Kashmir between 3:25 and 3.57 a.m. accompanied by CRPF and police personnel. The first pilgrim convoy, carrying 327 pilgrims in 16 vehicles, left for the shorter but steeper 14-km Baltal route in the Ganderbal district, followed by the second convoy of 1,163 pilgrims in 45 vehicles, who are undertaking the yatra via the 48-km traditional Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district, they said. Since Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first batch on July 2, 14,27,85 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the valley. The cave shrine, which houses a naturally occurring "ice lingam," was visited by over 5.10 lakh pilgrims the previous year.
The pilgrimage is scheduled to end on August 9, which is the same day as the festival of Raksha Bandhan.