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| Amarnath devotees throng Mansar Lake during pilgrimage | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, July 4 : Devotees heading to the Amarnath cave shrine thronged the Mansar Lake near Jammu on Sunday after the authorities suspended the pilgrimage due to poor weather.
Families spent their time in boating and clicking photographs near the fountain. Children accompanied by their parents fed food to the fishes in the lake.
Devotees have stopped by at the lake to rest, as the authorities have not informed or announced the resumption of the pilgrimage
"We left from Chandigarh for the Amarnath Yatra, but it'’s been two to three days since the pilgrimage was suspended due to bad weather. We have come to the Mansar Lake to enjoy," said Kuldeep, a devotee.
Transport services have been suspended and pilgrims have been forced to set up camp, even as the state government takes steps to control the rush to the cave shrine, which is located at a height of 13, 500 feet.
"This time, we have faced a lot of trouble. We have been undertaking this pilgrimage for the last eight years," said Vikas Garg, another devotee.
Over 20,000 devotees are reportedly stranded at different locations in Jammu.
Hotel owners near the lake are cashing in on the incoming tourists and devotees.
"The influx is good because the pilgrimage has been suspended for the last two days. And that is why there is rush and lots of movement of people here," said Sanjeev Gupta, a hotel owner.
Since the commencement of the pilgrimage on June 29, a total of 67,258 pilgrims offered prayer and worshipped the naturally formed ice stalagmite (Shivalingam, Hindu deity) at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath.
The number of pilgrims would have further increased, but adverse weather conditions forced the authorities to temporarily suspend the pilgrimage from the Baltal route on July 1.
A little snowfall and continuous rainfall have blocked the Baltal track, making it slippery at many places.
During the two-month-long annual pilgrimage, devout Hindus either walk, or proceed astride on ponies, or in palanquins, to the cave shrine to pray at the ice stalagmite that forms every year, and is thought to represent Hindu God Shiva.
The state authorities are hopeful that the rise in the number of tourists would result in providing an impetus to tourism in the state.
Over 50 percent of Kashmir''s economy is dependent on tourism, and the restive region has always been a favourite destination for the tourists, but decades of unrest has left it out of bound.
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