Kashmir: The annual pilgrimage to Amarnath shrine commenced on Saturday with the first batch of pilgrims leaving the Baltal base camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district for the darshan of the holy cave.

Amid the blowing of conch shells and chants of “Bum Bum Bhole”, “Jai Baba Burfani”, and “Har Har Mahadev”, the first batch of pilgrims left the base camp for the holy shrine located at an altitude of 12,756 feet above sea level.

The first batch, consisting of 4,603 pilgrims, reached the Kashmir valley on Friday amid stringent security arrangements.

This year, the 52-day-long pilgrimage would culminate on August 19. The online registrations for the 52-day-long yatra began on April 15 on Shri Amarnath Shrine Board’s (SASB) website and portal.