JAMMU, India - About 3,000 Hindu devotees set off on an annual pilgrimage in the Kashmir Himalayas on Monday amid tight security because of an upsurge of separatist violence in the region.
Last year, 22 pilgrims were killed by suspected Islamic guerrillas at the base camp that leads to the Amarnath shrine.
Officials said more than 110,000 people had registered for the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, believed to be the abode of the Hindu god Shiva, or the god of destruction and regeneration.
"We have taken all precautionary measures to ensure a smooth flow of pilgrims in our region," the divisional commissioner of Jammu, Anil Goswami, told Reuters.
Officials said security forces had been deployed at vantage points for the pilgrimage which was flagged off by Sakina Itoo, junior minister of tourism in Kashmir, amid the chanting of hymns and shouting of religious slogans.
Authorities are taking no chances this year because violence in the disputed Himalayan region has increased since India called off a cease-fire in Kashmir more than a month ago.
During the month-long pilgrimage, devout Hindus walk and ride ponies or palanquins to the cave -- situated at an altitude of 13,500 feet -- where the ice stalagmites which form each year are worshipped as a symbol of Shiva.
The pilgrims cross a 217-mile route that runs through forests and mountains before reaching the cave. The route includes a slippery 29-mile trek from the base camp at Pahalgam, which passes through streams swelled by monsoon rains, glacier-fed lakes and snow-clad peaks.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, since the start of the rebellion nearly 11 years ago.
India frequently accuses Pakistan of backing Muslim guerrillas fighting New Delhi's rule in the state. Islamabad denies the accusation, saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support to the separatists.
Kashmir has been the cause of two of three wars between the nuclear-capable neighbors since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The leaders of both countries are due to meet in Agra, India, later this month for a summit at which Kashmir is expected to be the dominant theme.
11:14 07-02-01
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