Jammu, Jul 2 (IANS): Close to 6,000 pilgrims on Tuesday left Jammu for the Amarnath caves amid tight security after over 8,000 devotees offered puja in the cave shrine on the first day of the annual pilgrimage.

A total of 2,239 yatris left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in a secured convoy at 3.05 a.m. for the Baltal base camp, while another 3,670 headed for the Pahalgam camp in another escorted convoy at 4.25 a.m., police said.

On the first day on Monday 8,403 pilgrims paid obeisance to the ice stalagmite structure, which devotees believe, symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva. It is situated at 3,888 metres above the sea-level in the Kashmir Valley.

The 45-day long Amarnath Yatra in the Himalayas will conclude on August 15 coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.

The MET office has installed weather forecasting equipments all along the twin tracks to the cave shrine for accurate forecast.

According to Tuesday's forecast, weather along the tracks is likely to remain generally dry with the temperature around the cave shrine expected to hover around 5 degrees Celsius.