As many as 375,000 pilgrims have so far paid obeisance at the cave shrine during the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, with another batch of 3,471 pilgrims leaving for the Valley on Saturday.
The officials said that as on date, since its commencement on June 29 this year, more than 375,000 devotees have paid obeisance at the cave shrine during the past 21 days of ongoing pilgrimage.
Notwithstanding intermittent rain and thundershowers in the area, more than 11,000 devotees paid 'Darshan' inside the cave shrine on Friday.
Another batch of 3,471 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu for the Valley on Saturday in two escorted convoys, an official said.
The first escorted convoy left at 3 am with 1,073 Yatris in 35 vehicles for the Baltal base camp. The second convoy left at 3:45 am with 2,398 pilgrims in 79 vehicles for the south Kashmir Nunwan base camp.
The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure, which waxes and wanes with the moon phases, representing Lord Shiva's mythical powers as per the belief of devotees.
The shrine is situated at an altitude of 3,888 meters above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas; devotees reach the cave shrine via the traditional south Kashmir route from Pahalgam or via the Baltal route.
The Pahalgam Cave shrine route is 48 km long and it takes Yatris four to five days to reach the shrine. While, the Baltal cave shrine route is 14 km long, allowing pilgrims to have 'Darshan' and return to base camp in a day.
This year's Yatra will end after 52 days on August 29, coinciding with the festivals of Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan.
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