Amid tight security, another batch of over 6500 pilgrims leave Jammu for Amarnath

Jammu, July 6 (PTI) The seventh batch of over 6,500 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims left Jammu in the early hours of Thursday for the twin base camps in Kashmir amid tight security, officials said.

The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1.

The officials said the pilgrim footfall at the shrine has crossed the 65,000 mark and the yatra is progressing smoothly, with devotees from across the country thronging the base camps to have a glimpse of the naturally formed ice shivling and offer their prayers.