The Amarnath Yatra was on Sunday interrupted as the passage of pilgrims at various safe shelters along the north and south Kashmir treks to the cave shrine was stopped due to inclement weather.
"We allowed 6,570 yatris to proceed towards the holy cave from the Baltal base camp in the morning today (Sunday). But as the weather deteriorated at the base camp and along the 14-km trek to the cave, we stopped any devotee from proceeding from Baltal," said Imtiyaz Hussain, district police chief of north Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
"Yatris already on the trek have also been stopped at safe shelters at Railpathri, Brarimarg and Sangam," he added.
Tasfeen Ali, camp officer at the Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp, told IANS: "We allowed 2,991 yatris to proceed towards Chandanwari - the first stopover on the 34-km-long Pahalgam-Amarnath cave shrine route this (Sunday) morning."
"Pilgrims along the trek have now been stopped at various safe shelters till the weather improves," he added.
The pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine that houses a natural ice stalagmite worshipped as an icon of the Hindu god Shiva began July 1. It will end Aug 25.
{{/usCountry}}The pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine that houses a natural ice stalagmite worshipped as an icon of the Hindu god Shiva began July 1. It will end Aug 25.
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