Amarnath Yatra crosses 2 lakh mark in 8 days; 29,507 pay obeisance on Friday

Srinagar: The annual Amarnath Yatra crossed the two lakh pilgrim mark on Friday, with 29,507 devotees paying obeisance at the holy cave shrine, taking the total number of pilgrims to 2,01,008 since the pilgrimage commenced on July 3.
According to official figures Friday’s pilgrims included 18,837 men, 9,754 women, 351 children, 191 sadhus, 22 sadhvis, 12 transgender pilgrims and 340 security personnel.
Meanwhile, 8,796 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu in the ninth batch during the early hours of Friday under tight security arrangements. Of them, 3,450 pilgrims were headed via the Baltal route, while 5,346 proceeded through the Pahalgam route.
The batch comprised 6,426 male pilgrims, 2,042 female pilgrims, 228 sadhus, 56 sadhvis, 10 children, 33 foreign male pilgrims and one transgender pilgrim. A total of 354 vehicles, including 175 buses, 70 medium motor vehicles (MMVs), 106 light motor vehicles (LMVs) and three two-wheelers, were deployed for the convoy