Bad weather hits Amarnath pilgrimage

Frequent cloudbursts and bad weather continue to hinder the smooth flow of Amarnath pilgrimage and the number of pilgrims paying obeisance at the cave shrine has come down from 10,000 to 300 a day.

For the first time in several years, a smallest number of 303 pilgrims left for the cave shrine on Tuesday. This is in stark contrast to the trend witnessed in the first month of pilgrimage when on an average 10,000 people would pay obeisance at the cave shrine every day. In July, more than three lakh yatris performed darshan.

Officials said that since the yatra began on July 2 this year, the pilgrimage has been suspended at least 10 times due to rough weather.