A 55-year-old pilgrim and a porter died en route to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the death toll during the ongoing pilgrimage to 32, officials said.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath took off on Sunday as the first batch of pilgrims set off from winter capital Jammu in the morning.
The pilgrims have been asked not to proceed to the cave in view of threat of landslides posed by heavy rains, the officials said adding they have been asked to take shelter in the specially erected shelter-sheds on both the routes.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into the allegations of installation of the artificial Shivalingam at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath.
A record number of about 1.6 lakh devotees paid their obeisance at the 3,880-m-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the first five days of the yatra, official sources said.
The Yatra was suspended on Wednesday following heavy rains.
The ongoing Amarnath yatra was suspended from Jammu on Saturday due to inclement weather and to control heavy rush of devotees thronging the 13,500 feet cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Arrangements for the annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath are being finalised as the yatra is scheduled to start from June 29. The pilgrimage got delayed this year because of heavy snow in the area and along the north and south treks.
"The helicopter with four passengers and the captain crashed 500 meters short of the helipad near the cave shrine on Thursday morning. A woman pilgrim on the ground was killed on the spot while five occupants of the helicopter were wounded," said a senior police officer.
Indian cricket captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni and his teammate Suresh Raina, on a trip to seek the blessings Mata Vaishnodevi ahead of the World Cup, on Sunday could not make it to the cave shrine due to bad weather.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath was flagged off from winter capital Jammu on Monday morning.The yatra is being initially allowed via the north Kashmir Baltel route as the traditional south Kashmir route remains snow bound.
The cave shrine of Vaishnodevi, one of the most visited pilgrimage centers in the country, is on the radar of militants, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Officials said with improvement in the weather, the pilgrims were later allowed to move on the traditional 46-km Pahalgam and shorter 12-km Baltal routes. They said the sun had come out in the afternoon and the yatra progressed smoothly after remaining suspended for a few hours
Amid tight security arrangements, the annual Amarnath yatra commenced from Jammu as the first batch of 1,280 pilgrims left for the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas.
The Governor also stressed on coordinated efforts between agencies and the shrine board for an incident-free 'yatra' like in the past three years.
After being delayed by landslides for two days, pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath yatra resumed their journey on Saturday.
At least 16 people have been killed while 15,000 pilgrims, who were stranded near the Amarnath holy cave in Kashmir due to a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst, have been shifted to the lower base camp in Panjtarni, officials said on Saturday.
Two pilgrims to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir died on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 10 in the ongoing annual pilgrimage, official sources said.
With this batch as many as 53,995 yatris from different parts of the country have left for the cave shrine since the commencement of yatra on June 10.
With security already being beefed up on Jammu-Pahalgam and Jammu-Baltal routes, the Yatra has remained incident-free so far.
Of these, 64,993 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine till Tuesday evening, while over 1,500 had darshan on Wednesday morning.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday said the rescue operations launched following a flash flood near the Amarnath cave shrine -- that left 15 people dead -- has been called off and there was no report of any person missing.
The home minister will also review the preparation for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage set to start on June 29.
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Two pilgrims and a woman tourist from Delhi died of cardiac arrest enroute the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir, taking the death toll in the ongoing pilgrimage to five, even as nearly 80,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine since July 2.
More than 40 food items have been banned at the upcoming Amarnath Yatra and the pilgrims have been advised to achieve physical fitness by walking at least 5 kilometres a day, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board said in its health advisory issued on Thursday.
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The yatra to the Holy cave shrine of Amarnath resumed on Saturday morning from north Kashmir's Baltel route after remaining suspended on Friday.
The first batch comprising 1,160 Amarnath yatris was on Friday flagged off by the state tourism minister from Jammu base camp to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday refused to accept the date fixed by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for the annual pilgrimage to the cave temple in south Kashmir Himalayas, saying the yatra this year will commence on June 4 for which it will begin registering pilgrims from Friday.
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Heavy rains Monday morning rendered the 46-km Pahalgam-cave and 14-km Baltal-cave routes slippery and dangerous.
Three persons, including two devotees, were killed and over 10,000 pilgrims stranded as heavy rain lashed parts of Jammu and Kashmir prompting authorities to suspend the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath on Sunday.
The annual Amarnath yatra to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas will commence on June 28 and culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raskha Bandhan festival on August 22, officials said.
Devotees were not allowed to enter inside the temple premises when Modi was offering prayers.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath will begin on June 29, Sri Amarnath Shrine Board which manages the yatra announced on Thursday.
The Amarnath yatra is not only a great bondage between the Hindu pilgrims and local Muslims who facilitate the yatra, but has also helped maintained a deep relationship in thought and aspiration between Kashmir and other parts of India that has existed for thousands of years.
Since the prime minister's visit in May, not a single day has passed when the 'dhyan gufa' was not occupied by someone, an official said.
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