A fresh batch of 1,050 pilgrims today left for the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas amidst tight security. The batch - 696 men, 255 women, five children and 94 sadhus - left in a motorcade of 30 vehicles from Bhagwati Nagar base camp here at 04:40 AM, a police official said. [related-post] The convoy has already reached Patnitop on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. With today's batch, as many as 38,315 pilgrims have so far left from the Jammu base camp for the shrine. About 2,50,000 pilgrims have visited the shrine till last evening.
