Agence Press France<\/P>
SRINIGAR, INDIA, August 6, 2004: The annual trek in Kashmir to one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines has seen a record 217,000 pilgrims despite violence elsewhere in the disputed Muslim-majority territory, official figures showed Friday. Officials are expecting 300,000 pilgrims to make the arduous journey to the Amarnath cave shrine by the ritual’s close in late August. The trek began July 15. “Some 217,000 pilgrims have offered prayers at the shrine so far, while others are proceeding towards the shrine,” a state government statement said. The largest number of pilgrims to visit the shrine in a previous year was in 2003 when 175,000 people trekked to the cave, which holds an ice representation of God Siva.
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\nThe statement said the pilgrimage was going “smoothly.” There have been no attacks on the trek, which is being guarded against Islamic rebel attacks by some 12,000 security personnel. However, five pilgrims and a Muslim horseman died of high-altitude sickness in the past two days. The cave, discovered by a Muslim shepherd in the 16th century, is nestled in the foothills of Himalayas at a height of 3,787 meters (12,500 feet). Rebels fighting to end Indian rule in Kashmir have frequently attacked the pilgrimage in the past.
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