The 12th batch of 7,049 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu on Sunday (July 13, 2025) to pay obeisance at the holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.
In pictures: Amarnath Yatra begins in Kashmir
The first batch of the Amarnath pilgrims on their way to Amarnath cave at Railpathri near Baltal, on July 3, 2025.
The annual Amarnath Yatra that began on Thursday (July 3, 2025) started early morning from the twin tracks— the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route and the 14-km Baltal route.
A Sadhu smokes as he arrive at the base camp, for the annual Amarnath yatra pilgrimage, in Baltal, some 125 kilometers northeast of Srinagar.
Porters carry luggage on their shoulders for Amarnath pilgrims on their way to Amarnath cave at Railpathri near Baltal, on July 3, 2025.
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 on the first day of the annual Amarnath Yatra on Thursday (July 3, 2025).
The unprecedented security cover this year comes in the wake of the Pahalgam attack on April 22 that left 26 civilians dead in the Baisaran meadow, which falls near the traditional Nunwan-Chandanwari yatra route in Anantnag district. The yatra began on Thursday (July 3, 2025).
The first batch of pilgrims leaves from a base camp at Baltal for the annual ‘Amarnath Yatra’, in Ganderbal district, on July 3, 2025.
An Amarnath pilgrim is carried on a palanquin by porters on their way to Amarnath cave at Railpathri near Baltal, on July 3, 2025.
The annual Amarnath Yatra began on Thursday, July 3, 2025. More than 3.31 lakh devotees have registered so far for this year’s Amarnath Yatra, officials said.
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The pilgrims, including 1,423 women, 31 children and 136 sadhus and sadhvis, 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 4,158 pilgrims are heading for Pahalgam base camp in a convoy of 148 vehicles, 2891 pilgrims on board 138 vehicles have preferred the Baltal route, the officials said.
The 38-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 9, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan festival. Nearly 1.83 lakh pilgrims have so far visited the shrine, which houses a naturally formed Shivlingam.