Over 1.38 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas since the pilgrimage started on June 10.

About 138,132 pilgrims have paid obeisance at the shrine in 2006, a spokesman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board told PTI on Wednesday.

As many as 132,389 pilgrims have visited the shrine from both routes of Baltal and Phalgam till June 26, he said.

There were still 10,000 to 15,000 yatris trekking towards the shrine from both the routes, he said adding, most of the pilgrims have returned to their native places after paying obeisance.

The spokesman said there were 12 deaths among the pilgrims due to various illnesses while trekking to the shrine located at an altitude of 3,880 metres.

Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 1,999 pilgrims left M A M stadium in Jammu for Amarnath early Wednesday morning, officials said.

The devotees, including 317 women, 191 sadhus and 49 children, left in a fleet of 60 vehicles under tight security, they said adding, with Wednesday's batch, 35,299 yatris have left from Jammu city for the shrine since June 10.

Bajrang Dal national convenor Prakash Kumar Sharma has claimed that more than 15,000 Dal activists and devotees from different parts of the country will visit the Budha Amarnath temple located in the border area of Mandi in Poonch district from July 27 to August 7, 2006.

He appealed to Hindus across the country to visit the temple and asked the state government to make elaborate security arrangements for the yatra. Sharma said even if the government fails to provide enough security arrangements for the yatra, the Bajrang Dal will continue with the pilgrimage.