Srinagar, July 6: Amarnath Yatra was temporarily suspended on both routes to the cave shrine on Saturday as a precautionary measure due to heavy rainfall, officials said.
Intermittent heavy rainfall has been seen along the Baltal and Pahalgam routes since last night, they said.
The decision to temporarily suspend the yatra was taken as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the pilgrims, the officials added.
The number of devotees who have visited the 3,800-metre-high cave shrine and had ‘darshan’ of the naturally formed ice lingam has crossed 1.50 lakh.
The Amarnath Yatra began on June 29 from the twin tracks — the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag and the 14-km shorter but steeper Baltal route in Ganderbal — and will culminate on August 19.
Meanwhile, surpassing all previous records, more than 1.5 lakh pilgrims have journeyed to the sacred Amarnath cave shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas during the first week of the annual Yatra, which commenced on June 29.
As per officials, 21,650 pilgrims paid obeisance at the naturally formed Ice Shivlingam at the Himalayan cave in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district till this evening.
A fresh batch of 6919 pilgrims left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas base camp in Jammu towards twin base camps of Baltal in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Nunwan -Pahalgam in Anantnag district under tight security measures early Friday morning.
Officials told a local news agency that on the sixth day, 21,650 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave of Swami Amarnath Ji.
With this, the total number of pilgrims visiting the 3888-meter-high cave shrine in the deep Himalayas during the last seven days since the yatra started has reached 1,51,946, surpassing all the previous records.
Officials said among the 21,650 pilgrims who performed darshan today at the holy cave included 15,151 males, 4,147 females, 275 children, 374 Sadhus, two Sadhvis, and over 1700 security personnel and service providers.
According to available data, in 2023, the yatra crossed the 1.5 lakh mark on the 20th day of its commencement.
The administration has placed stringent security arrangements for the smooth conduct of the yatra.
Officials said that thousands of security personnel from the police, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and other paramilitary forces have been deployed along the route, while the army is overseeing the overall security with the air force providing all-round aerial surveillance.
Over 125 free langars have been established by philanthropic organizations at base camps and in the Yatra area up to the holy cave to serve the pilgrims.
