The first batch of over 12,000 yatris (pilgrims) left for the cave shrine located at 14,500 feet above the sea level from the two base camps.
The board said the yatra would continue between June 21 and July 5 from the Baltal route and not the Pahalgam one due to heavy snowfall in that region.
The traditional Pahalgam route for the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir will open on July 9, an official of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board said in Srinagar on Monday.
Use of plastic bags has been banned in Pahalgam, Baltal and en route to the Amarnath cave shrine as part of a master plan to check environmental damage and introduce eco-friendly facililies for pilgrims
Around 6,400 security personnel have been positioned all along the route to the Amarnath cave shrine to foil terrorrist attacks
A dozen teams of the NDRF will be deployed to ensure the safety of the people who embark on the yatra from July 1, they added.
A 26-year-old youth was on Friday electrocuted and two others critically injured after they came in contact with a live wire at a base camp en route to the Amarnath cave shrine of Amarnath, the police has said.
More than 8,000 pilgrims on Monday paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine.
The condition of three of the injured is stated to be serious.
Amid tight security arrangements, the annual Amarnath yatra commenced from Jammu as the first batch of 1,280 pilgrims left for the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas.
Two pilgrims died of cardiac arrest en route to the 3,880 m high holy cave shrine of Amarnath even as one lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrine, officials said in Srinagar on Friday.
Two more devotees died en route 3,880-mt high Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir, taking the death toll since the commencement of the annual pilgrimage to 24, police said on Tuesday.
Nehwal expressed gratitude to the J-K administration, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) and the security forces.
The numbers nosedived to 2810 on July 23, a day after the Tanda army camp attack, followed by 2802 on July 24, 2516 on July 25, 2343 on July 26 and 1735 on July 27, they said.
A cloudburst occurred near the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas on Wednesday, but there was no loss of life in the incident, officials said.
The recently reconstituted Shri Amarnath Shrine Board on Monday took a major decision appointing a high profile panel for the preservation of the environment enroute and around the Holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The police on Sunday detained 53 Bajrang Dal activists after foiling their bid to move towards Baltal base camp of Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir, ahead of the commencement of the annual pilgrimage in June. Flagged off by Vishwa Hindu Parishad state chief Rama Kant Dubey from Jammu city, a group of 150 members boarded two buses and left for Kashmir Valley. They were intercepted by the police on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Jajjarkotli, 35 km from Jammu.
Private carrier Jagson Airlines, which operates between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, will start helicopter operations for Amarnath pilgrims with 44 daily services to the holy shrine from Srinagar and Baltal in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Amarnath pilgrimage resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for three days following flash floods that claimed 15 lives, while the Jammu and Kashmir administration said it would get a clear picture by Tuesday about the damage.
Defying apprehensions of the horrific April 22 terror Pahalgam attack casting a shadow on the Amarnath Yatra this year, hundreds of pilgrims from various parts of the country lined up at the registration centre in Jammu on the first day.
The 42-day-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine was scheduled to commence on June 23.
Drones are being used for aerial security of the Amarnath base camp at Bhagwati Nagar area of Jammu city for the first time while at least 20,000 security personnel have been deployed along the two routes.
The 39-day long annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath concluded on Thursday amid traditional prayers at the cave shrine.
More than a dozen Mountain Rescue Teams assisted thousands of pilgrims during this year's Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Monday, as the annual yatra concluded with more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims offering prayers at the cave shrine.
Amarnath Yatra was on Friday suspended on Baltal and Pahalgam routes due to incessant rainfall since Thursday night.
The 'pratham pujan' which marks the beginning of the annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath was held on Wednesday at Panjtarni, on the Pahalgam-cave shrine trek.
The Holy mace of Lord Shiva reached the 3,880 metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath on Saturday morning coinciding with the Hindu festival of Rakhsha Bandan, marking the end of the two-month annual pilgrimage, official sources said.
The pilgrims have been asked not to proceed to the cave in view of threat of landslides posed by heavy rains, the officials said adding they have been asked to take shelter in the specially erected shelter-sheds on both the routes.
The Yatra was suspended on Wednesday following heavy rains.
The annual Amarnath Yatra is on amid tight security, with pilgrims from both Baltal and Pahalgam base camps starting their journey for the 3880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday said the rescue operations launched following a flash flood near the Amarnath cave shrine -- that left 15 people dead -- has been called off and there was no report of any person missing.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into the allegations of installation of the artificial Shivalingam at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath.
The pilgrimage to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas was suspended from Pahalgam route on Thursday afternoon following inclement weather.
A batch of 429 pilgrims left for the yatra from Jammu. The pilgrims included 32 women and 102 sadhus.
Officials said with improvement in the weather, the pilgrims were later allowed to move on the traditional 46-km Pahalgam and shorter 12-km Baltal routes. They said the sun had come out in the afternoon and the yatra progressed smoothly after remaining suspended for a few hours
At least 16 people have been killed while 15,000 pilgrims, who were stranded near the Amarnath holy cave in Kashmir due to a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst, have been shifted to the lower base camp in Panjtarni, officials said on Saturday.
The 45-day annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrine of Amarnath ended on Saturday after the traditional puja inside the shrine. The Shravan Purnima, which coincides with Raksha Bandhan festival, witnessed religious fervour with the arrival at the cave shrine situated at a height of 3,880 metres after a night halt at Panjtarni.
Two pilgrims to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir died on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 10 in the ongoing annual pilgrimage, official sources said.
The ongoing pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas was on Tuesday suspended from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps as heavy rains lashed parts of the Valley, officials said in Srinagar.
