Jammu, July 2 The two-month-long Amarnath yatra today officially started from its base came here with the first batch of 2,356 pilgrims leaving for the cave shrine, despite melting of the naturally formed ice Shiva lingam.
The shrine is situated at a height of 3,880 meters from the sea level.According to police, 52 buses and 21 light motor vehicles carrying 1261 men, 427 women, 65 children and 603 'sadhus' left for the Amarnath shrine at 0530 hrs.The yatra, which was scheduled to commence from June 30 'Vrat Poornima', got delayed following bad weather conditions.
However, observing the improvement in weather, authorities yesterday allowed more than 13,000 unregistered devotees camping at various places on traditional Pahalgam and Baltal routes to proceed on pilgrimage.
Heavy rains had triggered landslides at several places en route the cave shrine of Lord Shiva, forcing the government to postpone the yatra by two days.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha (retd), who is also the chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), will visit the cave shrine subject to weather conditions and offer 'Pratham Poojan (first prayer)' there.
The SASB authorities yesterday informed the about 12-feet-high ice lingam in a 200 cubic-meter cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas had melted completely due to rise in temperature there.
UNI
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The shrine is situated at a height of 3,880 meters from the sea level.According to police, 52 buses and 21 light motor vehicles carrying 1261 men, 427 women, 65 children and 603 'sadhus' left for the Amarnath shrine at 0530 hrs.The yatra, which was scheduled to commence from June 30 'Vrat Poornima', got delayed following bad weather conditions.However, observing the improvement in weather, authorities yesterday allowed more than 13,000 unregistered devotees camping at various places on traditional Pahalgam and Baltal routes to proceed on pilgrimage.
Heavy rains had triggered landslides at several places en route the cave shrine of Lord Shiva, forcing the government to postpone the yatra by two days.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha (retd), who is also the chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), will visit the cave shrine subject to weather conditions and offer 'Pratham Poojan (first prayer)' there.
The SASB authorities yesterday informed the about 12-feet-high ice lingam in a 200 cubic-meter cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas had melted completely due to rise in temperature there.
UNI
Related Stories
News In-Focus: Kashmir Burning
Amarnath yatra deferred due to bad weather
JK: Three thousand amarnath pilgrims stranded
IED recovered on Khanabal-Amarnath route
>
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