8JULY2019 STATE OBSERVER
Due to heavy rush for Amarnath yatra, pilgrims have been stopped at the Jammu base. The next batch of pilgrims is not being allowed as there are already a lot of pilgrims on the Baltal and Pehalgam route and more cannot be accommodated. Over one lakh pilgrims have already visited the shrine during the yatra which began on July 1. The 45-day long yatra will end on August 15, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival. Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had on Sunday said the annual Hindu pilgrimage has been possible with the support and assistance of the local Muslims.Malik also asked people to bear with the curbs imposed on civilian traffic on the national highway for two hours daily as it concerns the safety and the security of the pilgrims. “You know what happened on the national highway on February 14 this year,” Malik said while he referred to the terror strike on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama district in which 40 troopers were killed.Situated at 3,888 metres above the sea-level in Kashmir`s Himalayas, the Amarnath cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva, according to the devotees. The ice stalagmite structure waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon.
