The 45-day annual Amarnath pilgrimage concluded on Monday with saints carrying the holy mace of Lord Shiva reaching the cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

The 'charri mubarak', carried by around 500 saints led by its custodian, Mahant Deepinder Giri, reached the shrine, 143 km from Srinagar, around 0845 IST.

State Governor and chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, S

K Sinha, and Director General of Police Gopal Sharma attended the concluding prayers.

A record 300,000 pilgrims undertook the yatra this year.

Tight security arrangement were made for the yatra with the Border Security Force personnel deployed all along the route and Central Reserve Police Force on duty at the base camps and halting stations.

Army had sanitised areas around the yatra route.