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Rains, strong winds halt Amarnath pilgrimage

Submitted by Tarique Anwar on 2 July 2007 - 7:09am.

By IANS

Srinagar : Strong winds and rain along the Amarnath pilgrimage track Monday put a halt to the movement of thousands of devotees waiting at two base camps in Jammu and Kashmir to proceed to the Himalayan cave shrine.


"No pilgrim would be allowed Monday to proceed either from the Baltal side (in north) or from the Pahalgam side (in south) towards the holy cave," Madan Mantoo, spokesman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) told IANS here.

"It had been raining all along the two mountain treks till this morning," he said.

The spokesman said the board authorities would review the situation after the weather in the upper Himalayan region showed signs of improvement.

"Around 11,000 pilgrims are stranded at the Baltal base camp and around 4,000 of them are waiting for the weather to clear at the Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp," Mantoo said.

However, news of the melting of the 'Shivling', or ice stalagmite considered an icon of Lord Shiva inside the cave, has not dampened the enthusiasm of pilgrims.

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