Amid religious fervour and slogans hailing Lord Shiva, the annual Amarnath pilgrimage was flagged off from Jammu today morning. 

Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora gave the green signal as the first batch of 2,096 pilgrims set out in 73 vehicles from Bhagwati Nagar. Officials said the number of pilgrims this year will be an all time high because of "peace in the Kashmir Valley".

The pilgrims will reach the south Kashmir Pahalgam base camp and the north Kashmir Baltal base camp in the evening, an official said in Srinagar.So far, 250,000 pilgrims have registered themselves with the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for the Himalayan pilgrimage.An on the spot registration too has been opened for pilgrims, arriving in Jammu or in Srinagar without prior registration.

But the authorities are not taking any chance. "All security arrangements are in place," a police officer said. Vehicles of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police would escort the pilgrim convoys from Jammu to the two base camps. Nearly 30,000 personnel have been deployed for the security of pilgrims, all the way to the cave shrine. At some places, pilgrims trek through the mountainous passes, some as narrow as one foot wide.Last year, nearly half-a-million pilgrims visited the shrine despite the summer unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

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