Srinagar, July 4 -- The first batch of Amarnath Yatra pilgrims set off on Thursday from the Baltal and Nunwan base camps towards the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas,officials said.

The yatra started early in the morning from the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route and the 14-km Baltal route. Pilgrims left from the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, in south Kashmir's Anantnag, and Baltal base camp in Sonamarg area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal, at the first light of the day, officials said.

Chants of 'Bam Bam Bhole' and 'Har Har Mahadev' heralded the march of the pilgrims', whose faces bore marks of happiness despite the arduous trek ahead, not to speak of the weather's vagaries.

"Baba has blessed us and there...