By IANS
Srinagar : Undeterred by heavy rains and strong winds, scores of pilgrims Tuesday trekked to the Himalayan cave shrine of Lord Shiva although the annual pilgrimage will officially start only from June 30.
So far hundreds of pilgrims, taking the 14 km long track via north Kashmir's Baltal base camp, have had the glimpse of icon of Lord Shiva formed by ice inside the holy cave, also known as Amarnath Cave.
Weather conditions in Baltal, 82 km from here, worsened Monday, which resulted in the death of a pony owner, Habibullah. Pilgrims who find it difficult to walk use the ponies.
"Nearly three dozen pilgrims en route to the cave shrine were rescued and safely brought back to Sonamarg after hostile weather Monday evening.
"With weather improving today (Tuesday), pilgrims have restarted their trek to the cave," a police officer said.
Many pilgrims, mostly from the families of the security forces, undertake the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave much ahead of the official schedule.
Traditionally, the pilgrims prefer to take the south Kashmir route, which includes the 46 km trek from Pahalgam base camp. The route involves three days of one-way trek.
The north Kashmir Baltal route, however, is less time consuming but is more vulnerable and has dangerous terrains. It takes just one day to return from the cave to the base camp.
Hundreds of personnel from the police, paramilitary forces and the army have been deployed on both north and south Kashmir routes.
Officials have also confirmed that this year the formation of the holy icon inside the cave had taken place normally because of the late March snowfall in the area.
"It (icon) was fully formed when I visited the shrine in the first week of this month," said S.K. Sinha, the governor of Jammu and Kashmir who is also the chairman of the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board.