SRINAGAR: The twelfth batch of 7,754 pilgrims undertaking the annual Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra 2026 departed from the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu early on Monday under multi-layer security arrangements, taking the total number of pilgrims who have left the base camp for the Kashmir Valley to 87,701 since the pilgrimage began.
According to the Joint Police Control Room, Base Camp Bhagwati Nagar, the pilgrims travelled in a convoy of 303 vehicles bound for the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam.
The Baltal-bound convoy, comprising 2,896 pilgrims in 133 vehicles left at 2:44 a.m., while the Pahalgam-bound convoy, carrying 4,858 pilgrims in 170 vehicles, departed at 3:28 a.m.
Officials said the twelfth batch includes 5,383 male pilgrims, 2,071 female pilgrims, 16 children, 222 sadhus, 58 sadhvis and four transgender pilgrims.
To facilitate the Yatra, authorities deployed 164 buses, 41 medium motor vehicles (MMVs), 91 light motor vehicles (LMVs) and seven two-wheelers for the convoy.
The pilgrimage convoy is travelling under elaborate security arrangements, with escorts provided by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
