Heavy rush of pilgrims and bad weather along the Jammu-Srinagar highway forced authorities to temporarily suspend the Amarnath Yatra even as no pilgrims were allowed to proceed to the Valley from winter capital Jammu on Friday.

Amarnath Yatra: Pilgrims' Progress

Madan Mantoo, spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board said in Srinagar [Images], "Pilgrims already at the two bases camps of Baltal and Pahalgam have, however, been allowed to move towards the Cave shrine on Friday."

He also said that on Thursday, a record number of 38,625 pilgrims had darshan of the holy 'ice shivlingam' at the cave while more than 70,000 pilgrims have performed the pilgrimage during the last three days.

Authorities had to stop scores of buses, taxis and private vehicles at various places along the twin routes to the base camps as the heavy rush of Yatris at the base camps was posing serious problems of management and regulation for authorities.

The two-month long annual pilgrimage to the 11,000 feet high Himalayan cave shrine started in Srinagar on June 18 and over two hundred pilgrims have already registered themselves at the various registration counters set up across the country by the local Jammu and Kashmir [Images] Bank Limited.