Friday, July 1, 2011

Bad weather suspends Amarnath pilgrimage

The Amarnath pilgrimage was suspended this morning because of bad weather on both routes leading to the cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag District .

Earlier on Thursday, a third batch of 2, 163 devotees left the Jammu base camp for the Amarnath shrine amidst tight security.

The pilgrims included 1340 male, 529 female, 97 children and 197 sadhus. They left in a cavalcade of 55 vehicles.

Adequate security arrangements have been made for pilgrims from Pahelgam and Baltal base camps upto the holy cave.

Administration has made every possible arrangement along the route for the pilgrims.

The helicopter service has also started for the pilgrims from Baltal to Panjtarni and from Pahalgam to Panjtarni.

The one-way heli-fare for Baltal-Panjtarni and Pahalgam-Panjtarni has been fixed at 2425 and 3450 rupees respectively. Children, in the age group of 2-12 years, will be required to pay half of the aforesaid prices.

The Amarnath cave shrine is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The main shrine is claimed to be over 5,000-years-old.

toi

No comments: