India wraps up mass Hindu pilgrimage in Kashmir

Srinagar: More than 400,000 Hindus took part in a month-long pilgrimage in Indian-administered Kashmir, authorities said, shrugging off security worries weeks after conflict with Pakistan.

The pilgrimage began on July 3 and closes officially on August 9, but organisers said that lashing rains had damaged narrow paths forcing a premature end.

Official Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said in a statement late Saturday that 415,000 pilgrims had taken part.

Many of the faithful began their trek to the Amarnath ice pillar from near Pahalgam, where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists in the region.

A few devotees may still visit the cave, but the numbers this year fall short of the estimated half a million devotees who took part in 2024.

Officials appealed to Hindus to undertake the pilgrimage, ramping up security for the event by deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to the cave, dedicated to Shiva, the deity of destruction.

On Sunday, Indian forces exchanged fire with gunmen for a third day in Kulgam, far from the Amarnath pilgrimage route.

Soldiers have killed two militants, a senior police officer said.