Jammu: JUne 15, 2009 - The annual Amarnath yatra began on Monday morning with the first batch of 900 pilgrims leaving here for the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

The batch, comprising 607 men, 229 women and 64 children, left from the base camp at Bhagwati Nagar here around 5 am after state Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzin Jora flagged off the two-month-long pilgrimage, officials said.

The pilgrimage, which has been delayed from June 7 due to heavy snow on its traditional Pahalgam-cave route, is being conducted through the shortest Baltal route.

There is heavy accumulation of snow at some spots from Pahalgam to Panjtarni in the traditional route and snow clearance operation has been stepped up by the army.

The pilgrims left under a thick security cover and are expected to reach Baltal by this evening, from where they will leave for the 3,880 meters high cave shrine tomorrow, the officials said.

A large number of security personnel have been deployed from Lakhanpur to Jawahar tunnel in Jammu division en route to the shrine to provide fool-proof security to the pilgrims.