Amaranth Yatra to 3,880-metre high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas started from both Baltal and Pahalgam routes on Thursday after delay of several hours due to heavy rain in the morning.
"The yatra began from Baltal base camp as the first batch of pilgrims made their way towards the holy cave," a spokesperson of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) told PTI.
The yatra also commences from the traditional Pahalgam route as 59 pilgrims from Chandanwari were allowed to proceed towards the cave shrine, she said.
Earlier, the Yatra was to commence on Thursday from Jammu under the watch of security personnel, but bad weather along both the north and south Kashmir routes of Baltal and Pahalgam halted the journey.
"It has been raining along both Baltal and Pahalgam treks to the Cave Shrine since early morning. Pilgrims camped at Baltal and Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camps have been advised not to proceed till the weather improves," an official said.
The MET department has forecast rain and thundershowers along both routes to the cave shrine on Thursday.
Officials have put in place stringent arrangements in Jammu and Kashmir, which is under Governor's rule following the collapse of the BJP-PDP government.
Governor NN Vohra has reviewed security arrangements ahead of the annual Yatra in the militancy-hit state where eight pilgrims were killed in an ambush last year.
Homegrown militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has reportedly sought to address the concerns, releasing a purported audio clip where it said pilgrims have "nothing to fear as long as they visit Kashmir only to fulfil their religious duties".
The 60-day Yatra will end on August 26, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.
Here's all you need to know about this year's Amarnath Yatra:
1. PILGRIM PARTICIPATION
According to officials, over 200,000 pilgrims have registered for the pilgrimage in south Kashmir Himalayas this year. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana saw the maximum number of registrations.
"As many as 2,11,994 pilgrims have secured advance registration through the designated bank branches, group registration facility and through booking of helicopter tickets for the yatra," an official spokesperson said at a meeting.
The first batch of 2,995 pilgrims was flagged off from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp by advisors to the Governor in presence of Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam on Wednesday morning.
The CEO of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Umang Narula, urged pilgrims to secure an advance registration for the pilgrimage only from the branches of the authorised banks and not from any other persons or agents who may try to cheat and sell fake permits to them.
A total of 2,60,000 pilgrims offered prayers at the shrine last year.
2. WAY TO HOLY CAVE
A pilgrim can choose from any of the two routes to the 3,880-metre high Amarnath cave shrine. The first one is via Jammu-Pahalgam, which is the traditional route and takes five days to complete. The most preferred one is Jammu-Baltal, a short but steep trek of 14 kms. In the first batch of pilgrims, 1,904 have opted for traditional Pahalgam route while 1,091 chose the Baltal route to reach the Himalayan cave shrine.
Pilgrims could book tickets through the websites of heli-operators. This year, per passenger one-way heli-fare for Neelgrath-Panjtarni is Rs 1,600 and Rs 2,751 for Pahalgam-Panjtarni.
3. TIGHT SECURITY
Vehicles tagged with electromagnetic chips, bikes and bullet-proof SUV police convoys and scores of bullet-proof bunkers have been deployed as part of the "biggest-ever" security blanket thrown to secure pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra.
The RFID tagging of vehicles concept has been introduced for the first time after taking a lesson from last year's militant attack on a civil vehicle in Anantnag district that left eight dead and several injured.
Ahead of the Yatra, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman undertook an aerial survey of the Yatra route along the Pahalgam axis, and inspected the arrangements at Baltal before reaching Srinagar, whereas Jammu and Kashmir Governor Vohra reviewed the security situation, saying the police will continue to review arrangements in the coming days to ensure effective security.
A paramilitary soldier stands guard | Photo: PTI
Over 40,000 armed CRPF and state police personnel have virtually dotted the yatra routes from Jammu-- via Pahalgam and Baltal-- with their overwhelming presence in armoured vehicles.
 "Amarnath Yatra begins: All you need to know about the annual J&K pilgrimage")
