By IANS,
Jammu : Less than two weeks into the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, more than 230,000 pilgrims have visited the cave shrine till Sunday and many more are on their way, shrine board officials said.
Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) CEO R.K. Goyal said pilgrims were using both the tracks in north and south Kashmir to shrine to Lord Shiva, located at the height of 13,500 feet above sea level. The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite formation that is believed to be a symbol of the deity.
“Till Sunday noon, 2.34 lakh pilgrims have visited the shrine,” he said, in a press release.
The number comes despite the number of suspensions of the pilgrimage, that started on June 29, because of hostile weather, rains and slippery tracks and jams on the highway and tracks leading to the shrine.
According to estimates if the current flow of the pilgrims continued, the number would cross more than half a million. About 475,000 pilgrims had paid obeisance at the shrine last year.
The pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on Raksha Bandhan Day (Aug 13).