Jammu: Three days before the conclusion of the annual Amarnath yatra, the smallest batch till now comprising of only 36 pilgrims left for the 3,888 metre high cave shrine on Monday.

With a mobile security escort of CRPF, the pilgrims comprising 26 men, six women and four children left in two vehicles from Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu at around 0440 hours, a police official said.

The convoy of the yatra has already crossed Ramban on the Jammu-Srinagar National highway towards base camps of Pahalgam in the Kashmir Valley.

With today's batch, as many as 91,479 pilgrims have left Jammu for their onward journey to the cave shrine.

The yatra is going on smoothly and so far over six lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the shrine housing the naturally formed ice 'shivlingam' since the pilgrimage commenced on June 25.

The yatra will conclude on August 2, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan.