Hyderabad: More than 56,000 devotees have offered prayers at the Amarnath cave shrine in the first three days of the annual pilgrimage, with authorities reporting a heavy influx of pilgrims on both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes.
According to officials, 24,648 pilgrims had darshan at the holy cave on Sunday, the third day of the 57-day Amarnath Yatra. Combined with the 32,313 devotees who visited the shrine during the first two days, the total number of pilgrims has reached 56,961 since the yatra began on July 3.
Situated at an altitude of 3,880 metres, the Amarnath cave witnessed smooth pilgrimage operations on Sunday despite partially cloudy weather.
Only Registered Pilgrims Allowed
The annual pilgrimage is being conducted through the traditional 48-km Pahalgam-Chandanwari route in Anantnag district and the shorter 14-km Baltal route in Ganderbal district.
Authorities said there has been a massive rush of pilgrims at the Baltal and Nunwan base camps, with thousands arriving daily despite repeated appeals not to travel before their allotted dates.
In view of the unprecedented turnout, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has announced that only registered pilgrims will be allowed to proceed towards Kashmir. Registration slots have already been fully booked until July 9, and unregistered devotees will be stopped at designated checkpoints until fresh quotas become available.
Heavy Rush in Jammu Registration Centres
A large number of pilgrims also gathered in Jammu for registration and token distribution. Long queues were witnessed at registration centres near the Tawi riverfront, Ram Mandir, Purani Mandi, and Geeta Bhawan from early Sunday morning.
Officials said around 5,000 unregistered pilgrims were issued fresh registrations for later dates of the pilgrimage.
The 57-day Amarnath Yatra 2026 will conclude on Shravan Purnima, which coincides with the festival of Raksha Bandhan.
