Amarnath yatra crosses 3-lakh mark

The number of yatris paying obeisance at the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir today crossed the three lakh mark.
Nearly 10,000 pilgrims performed darshan of the naturally- formed ice lingam at the holy cave till 5.00 pm today, an officials of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) said.
He said this included 377 persons who performed the yatra by helicopter from Baltal and Pahalgam helipads.
More than 2.93 lakh pilgrims had paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine since the commencement of annual pilgrimage from Baltal route on June 28 and from traditional Pahalgam route on July 2.

The number of pilgrims who died during the pilgrimage this year is 33, including one Sadhu, the official said.
Although the number of pilgrim deaths is much lower this year than 120 recorded in 2012, it has risen sharply from the 14 deaths that occurred during the last year's yatra, he said.