Indians set off on Amarnath religious pilgrimage

2 July 2015

Hundreds of Hindu worshippers have begun the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave in Indian-administered Kashmir amid tight security.

Indian sadhu -holy man-, Vishnu Dass (L) from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state gets ready to do daily chores at a local temple in Jammu on June 20, 2015, as he and others await registration for the upcoming pilgrimage to Amarnath in Kashmir. The two month-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave Shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir is scheduled to begin on July 2.

AFP

The 59-day pilgrimage to the holy cave started on Thursday from the city of Jammu.

Indian Hindu holy men sit in queue for the registration to the Amarnath shrine pilgrimage at the registration centre in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, India, 30 June 2015. The annual pilgrimage to a cave shrine housing a naturally formed icy stalagmite in a mountain cave 4 115 meters (13 500 feet) above sea level which attracts hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims annually for two months in Indian Kashmir.

EPA

The pilgrims, mostly saffron-clad holy men and hermits, will trek to the cave shrine. The shrine has a naturally-formed stalagmite that is worshipped as an incarnation of Hindu god Shiva.

Indian Hindu pilgrims cross mountain trails during their religious journey to the Amarnath cave, on the Baltal route, some 125 kilometers northeast of Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, 02 July 2015. Hindus believe the cave to be an abode of the god Shiva. The 59-day annual Amarnath yatra pilgrimage started 02 July 2015

EPA

The cave shrine, located high up in the mountains, attracts hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims annually over two months.

Indian Hindu devotees stand in a queue to register for a pilgrimage to the Hindu holy site of Amarnath, as others stand in a queue at the registration counter in Jammu, India, Thursday, July 2, 2015. The pilgrimage, usually referred to as Amarnath Yatra, is held annually to the holy Amarnath cave, dedicated to Hindu god Shiva.

The pilgrims have to begin by registering in Jammu.

EPA

They have to cross mountain trails during their journey to Amarnath.

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway as Amarnath bound vehicles, the first batch of Amarnath pilgrims on the way to Amarnath Yatra, an annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine, move along in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, India, 01 July 2015. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims begin an annual pilgrimage on 01 July to the shrine, an icy stalagmite in a mountain cave 4,115 meters (13,500 feet high) above sea level. Hindus worship the stalagmite as an incarnation of the Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration.

EPA

Thousands of troops are deployed along the route of the pilgrimage. Kashmir has been in the grip of an armed insurgency since the late 1980s and even though violence has reduced in the region in recent years, the threat of militant attacks remains.