Bad weather forces suspension of Amarnath Yatra; pilgrims stopped from moving towards holy cave shrine

Amarnath Yatra was suspended on Friday due to bad weather. The decision to temporarily put hold on the annual pilgrimage was taken by authorities after a spell of heavy rains in the region. The yatra to the holy cave shrine will remain suspended till the weather improves. Soon after the decision to halt the Amarnath Yatra was taken, pilgrims were restricted to move towards the holy cave from the base camps. As per reports, more than 7,000 pilgrims have been halted at various bases camps including Pahalgam, Baltal and Nunwan due to bad weather. “The yatra has been suspended and no pilgrim is being allowed to move towards the holy cave shrine this morning,” PTI quoted officials as saying. Incessant heavy rains have been reported near the holy cave shrine. The Amarnath Yatra this year began on 1 July. The decision to suspend the yatra may have been taken after chaos and deaths of at least 16 people last year following the cloudburst in the region. On Thursday, 17,202 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine, taking the cumulative total of devotees who have had ‘darshan’ of the natural ice lingam formation in the south Kashmir Himalayas to 84,768 so far. Every year a large number of devotees undertake the arduous annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine located in Kashmir Himalayas to pay obeisance to Holy Ice Shiv Lingam. The Amarnath Yatra forms part of the Char Dham Yatra and it is facilitated under the surveillance of tight security. Apart from the weather, the terrain in the route to the holy cave shrine makes the pilgrimage one of the most arduous ones. With inputs from agencies