On Monday, authorities suspended the Amaranth yatra, which had commenced on Sunday, due to rains and slippery tracks on traditional Pahalgam and shorter Baltal routes.

The two-month-long pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas was suspended temporarily as heavy rains Monday morning rendered the 46-km Pahalgam-cave and 14-km Baltal-cave routes slippery and dangerous, a spokesman of Shree Amarnathji shrine board told PTI.

He said no pilgrim was allowed from either side to the cave on Monday as a precautionery measure.

It has been raining heavily enroute the cave shrine with extreme cold weather prevailing in the region, he said.

The two-month pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath commenced on Sunday with nearly 13,000 devotees leaving for the 3,880 metre high cave shrine from the twin routes amid tight security arrangements.

Orginally scheduled to commence on June 30, the yatra started from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal in the wee hours following improvement in the weather on Sunday.

Shiva lingam, symbol of lord Shiva at the 200 cubic metercave has completely melted, officials of the board said.