JAMMU:Braving heavy rains, more than 1600 pilgrims left Jammu on Monday for the twin base camps of the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas amid tight security arrangements.

The 38-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high shrine, which commenced on July 3 from the valley, has recorded darshan of the ice lingam of Lord Shiva by more than 3.77 lakh pilgrims.

Escorted by CRPF and police personnel, the 23rd batch of 1,635 pilgrims, which included 1,303 men, 286 women, four children, and 42 sadhus and sadhvis, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here in 59 vehicles for the twin base camps in Kashmir between 3:25 am and 4:00 am, the officials said.