Source: news.bbc.co.uk
KASHMIR, INDIA, June 15, 2009: The famous two-month-long annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave in Indian-administered Kashmir has begun amid tight security. Over 2,500 pilgrims, including women and children, left the state’s winter capital, Jammu, early on Monday. Over the next month and a half, some half a million devotees from different parts of India are expected to visit the holy cave, which houses an ice stalagmite symbolizing God Siva.
The pilgrims are traveling in vehicles the first 250 miles, to Baltal. From there they will trek to the shrine, almost 4000m above sea level.
More than 5,000 security forces have been deployed along the pilgrimage route, officials say. Last year, violence erupted between Muslims and Hindus over a proposed transfer of land to the shrine. The state government finally dropped the plan.
The authorities are also worried that weather might disturb the pilgrimage. There has been heavy snow in the mountains in recent weeks and troops have had to help clear the track to the cave.