Amarnath Yatra temporarily suspended after rain lashes parts of Kashmir

The Amarnath Yatra was suspended on Friday due to bad weather as rain lashed many parts of Kashmir, officials said.

The yatra was suspended along both the Baltal and the Pahalgam routes, they said.

"The yatra has been suspended and no pilgrim is being allowed to move towards the holy cave shrine this morning," the officials said.

Heavy showers, which started early on Friday, forced the temporary suspension of the pilgrimage, they added.

The pilgrims have been stopped at the Baltal and the Nunwan base camps.

The yatra will resume once the weather improves, the officials said.

On Thursday, 17,202 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine, taking the cumulative total of devotees who have had 'darshan' of the natural ice lingam formation in the south Kashmir Himalayas to 84,768 so far.