All mobile networks stopped working Tuesday morning. There was no signal on mobile phones of private service providers, including Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom and Aircel.

BSNL phones did have signal but could not connect to other phones. There was also no way of reaching service providers to know why there was no signal.

Officials said services had been jammed following inputs that the militants might use mobile phones to trigger explosive devices or pass on directions on phone.

“This has been done for security reasons,” an official said.

IANS

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• For amarnath,delhi-srinagar-baltal-amarnath is the shortest route. from baltal u can walk or take a helocopter. the temple opens for only 2 months in june-july

• For badrinath,delhi-haridwar-rishikesh( by train/road)-dev prayag-rudra prayag-joshimath-badrinath(by road only

Badrinath temple is closed in the winter and temple is transferred to joshimath. u can be!

It could be reached through two routes- Pahalgam and Baltal. While Pahalgam route is about 40 kilometers long, it takes about 2-3 days to reach the holy shrine. Baltal route is shorter but is full of dangerous curves and steep cliffs……

According to Hindu mythology, the cave shrine is about 5,000 years old. According to one of the legends, it is said that a Muslim shepherd (Bakerwaal) met a saint and the saint gave him a bag full of coal. When the shepherd reached home, he found that the coal was converted into gold.

This spread to the people in the entire region and from that time onwards, this place became a holy shrine. Even today, a part of the donations is given to the family descendents of that shepherd.

People from all parts of India and even from foreign countries; pay their homage to Lord Shiva at this shrine, which consists of ice lingam in the form of Lord Shiva. The ice lingam increases or decreases with the phases of the moon. It is in the Shravan month of the Hindu calendar and on the day of Rakhshabandhan, the ice lingam attains the maximum height. This culminates the yatra which originally used to he held for one month. Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) later extended the pilgrimage for two months.

People who want to visit this cave shrine have to seek permission and it is only after thorough medical check up that a person is allowed to continue his or her journey towards the holy shrine. Being at a high altitude, the oxygen supply is less and as a result many pilgrims every year succumb to cardiac arrests and other health related problems. Hence it is necessary that one carry out the pilgrimage if only in the sound state of health.

Every care is taken on the route for the pilgrims. There are free medical facilities, free food and other amenities. The possibility of erecting permanent structures on the route and at the cave shrine is very less because of the tough weather conditions and snow all around.

Recently, the SASB has constructed a base camp in Bhagwati Nagar area of Jammu where the pilgrims stay and then proceed for their onward journey. The daily pilgrimage or yatra leaves from Jammu early in the morning. At present, there is a row between the government and people over the allotment of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). We all hope that this matter gets sorted out in no time and the ambience of peace and communal harmony remains as it used be during previous times.

The political turmoil has spoiled the peaceful ambience in the state that was an example of communal harmony and peace. The month long agitation has been called off as the land in question was given for the use so that SASB can use it for a period of three months during the yatra. We all hope that peace is restored in both the regions of the state so that the traditions are intact and people should not suffer like they did this time of the year.

We all hope that Sri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage continues smoothly as it has been going on for centuries. Politicians have tried to give it a communal color but the people of our state unearthed their nefarious designs to create a rift between the two religions. Hopefully, we might see a more influx of pilgrims next year to have a glimpse of Lord Shiva in the holy cave.

Boating facility is available on this lake and proper life guard belts are provided to tourists to avoid any mishap.

This temple was build by King Ranbir Singh. Part of holy trinity, this temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Divided into two halls, this temple is decorated by the pictures of Kartikeya and Ganesha. Faithful Nandi’s idol is also found in this temple. Around 1.25 lakh bona Lingam are placed in the two halls of temple.

This palace is now transformed into a museum. Golden throne is the major attraction of this palace. It’s weight is around 120kg and it is made up of pure gold and related with the figure of lion. Apart from this throne, this palace is famous for its rare painting.

Nal Damayati is the gallery of painting. It also has the stock of 25 thousand books in its library.

f seats 87
National Conference 28
PDP 21
BJP 11
Congress 17
JKNPP 03
People’s Democratic Front 01
Independents 06

As Jammu and Kashmir headed for a hung assembly, the National Conference today said it would prefer to have an alliance with the Congress.

“Personally, I will prefer to have an alliance with the Congress,” NC President Omar Abdullah said when asked whom his party would like to see as a coalition partner in the future government.

Ruling out any possibility of having a tie-up with BJP, Omar Abdullah said his party would prefer to sit in the opposition rather than forming a government with the saffron party. However, his father Dr. Farooq Abdulla did not rule out the possibility of alliance with NDA/BJP. NC was part of A B Vajpayee-led NDA government.

Abdullah said the NC would try to get the support of the independent MLAs first before mulling other options.

Asked who would be the next Chief Minister as the party had already projected Farooq Abdullah as Chief Ministerial candidate, he said a final decision would be taken later on.

However, Congress sources said the party would like to go with one of the two regional parties—National Conference and PDP—and take help of independents to form the next Government.

As BJP gained in Jammu region, Congress today said the controversy over the transfer of land to Amarnath shrine cost the party heavily in the region.

“Amarnath land row cost us dearly. It is an emotive issue and it took place just before the elections…Had the land row not been there, we could have swept the polls,” AICC General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.

The Congress leader hoped that the party would be able to retain 20 seats which it had won in the last elections.

“We contested a hard election. The Congress is there to stay in the State,” Chavan said.

Asked with whom would the party go with in forming the next Government, he said “options are open. It will be a coalition government.”

Chavan said that the Congress-led coalition government in the state had launched several developmental works and wants to continue it.

“We thank the people of Jammu and Kashmir and their participation in the elections prove their faith in democracy and our neighbours should learn a lesson from it,” .

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