Srinagar, July 23 -- The officials said the yatris included 8,461 men, 1,802 women, three transgenders, 89 children, 56 sadhus, two sadhvis, and 415 security forces personnel.

So far, a total of 3,42,657 pilgrims have visited the cave shrine since the yatra started on July 3, they added.

While the footfall at the shrine remained good, the number of pilgrims departing from Jammu-the starting point for most yatris-has shown a consistent downward trend over the past few days.

From 7,908 pilgrims on July 18, the number dropped to 6,365 on July 19, 4,388 on July 20, 3,791 on July 21, 3536 on July 22, 2,837 on July 23- the lowest daily departure figure recorded so far during this year's yatra.

Despite the decline, officials said that the pi...