SRINAGAR, India – Thousands of Hindu devotees began an annual pilgrimage Tuesday to an icy cave in Indian-controlled Kashmir amid tight security in the Muslim-majority region, officials said.
At least half a million devotees are expected to make the pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine over the next two months.
Thousands of army and paramilitary troops have been deployed along the route – which was targeted during the 1990s by the Muslim separatist rebels still fighting Indian security forces in the region.
The first group of nearly 7,000 pilgrims, chanting hymns and ringing bells, began the 10-mile (16-kilometer) trek from a base camp at Baltal, said Virender Bali, a local police officer. Baltal is 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Srinagar, the biggest city in the disputed Himalayan region.
About 20,000 devotees were camping Tuesday at Baltal – one of several base camps for the trek to the hallowed mountain cave, which lies 13,500 feet (4,115 meters) above sea level.
Hindus worship a stalagmite inside the cave as an incarnation of the Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration.
The groups of pilgrims are staggered over two months for security and logistical reasons.
Last year, protests sparked by a planned government transfer of land to build amenities for the pilgrims – a decision later rescinded – led to a crackdown by security forces that left at least 50 dead, mostly Muslims.
Muslim rebels accuse Hindu-majority India of using the pilgrimage as a political statement to bolster its claim over the Muslim-majority region.
The rebels have been fighting since 1989 for the independence of the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, or its merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan, which controls another portion of Kashmir.
Associated Press – June 16, 2009
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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posted June 17, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Hopefully no one will die in this pilgrimage. People fulfilling a religious obligation shouldn’t be in danger.
posted June 17, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Perhaps they could move the stalagmite to a more convenient location, unless to do so would tick off Shiva the Destroyer.
In actuality they could not conveniently move it since it’s an ice stalagmite which waxes and wanes like a, well anyway.
In looking up Shiva the Destroyer I came across this YouTube feature which any of our younger readers might especially profit from. It may capture one aspect of a destroyer, an aspect we narrowly avoided because everyone directly involved was an adult. May our present and future presidents all be adults.