After delay, pilgrims start Amarnath trek

bad weather and heavy rains, hundreds of pilgrims started the treacherous trek from Baltal Thursday afternoon after several hours of delay to reach the 3,888-metre high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas.

The annual pilgrimage was scheduled to start early morning from Baltal in central Kashmir and Pahalgam in south Kashmir, but was stopped due to incessant rain since Wednesday evening, leaving the tracks slippery.

The pilgrims, who were staying in tents and community camps and had queued up at the security gate from 4am despite the rains, were given a go-ahead to climb the 14-km slanting mountainous track from the Baltal base camp in the afternoon, after security forces did a reconnaissance and cleared landslides from the narrow horse track.

“I am so happy to finally start the yatra. We have been waiting since 4am. We will finally have a glimpse of Lord Shiva,” said Sunidhi, who came from Amritsar.

The pilgrims from Pahalgam, however, were not allowed to trek the 36 km mountainous path.

Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra, also the chairman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, paid obeisance at the sanctum sanctorum, and participated in the ‘pratham pooja’ ceremony.

The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon. Devotees believe the ice stalagmite symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva.

Rains started lashing the two base camps since Wednesday when the yatris started trickling after the first batch of around 3,000 pilgrims left Jammu for the two camps. Even before the convoys had reached Kashmir, hundreds of yatris had already arrived at the base camps.

“It has been an amazing journey. We did not face any hindrance even though we have heard many bad things in the media. People here are very sweet,” said Sukhwinder Singh, who has come from Amritsar with his wife and two teenage kids. The family, travelling in a group of 42 people, had already visited Dal Lake and other tourist spots before arriving at the camp.

BALTAL(J&K):Despite