SRINAGAR: Amid stepped up violence in Kashmir and charges of tampering with the Amarnath shrine, the two-month long pilgrimage to the cave in South Kashmir ended on Wednesday. Nearly 3,00,000 devotees paid obeisance.

A special puja was performed after Mahant Dipindra Giri took the holy mace to the cave, which stands at an altitude of 3,880 metres. Governor Lt. Gen (retd.) S. K. Sinha, who is also Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, was present.

The arrival of the mace, commonly known as `charri mubarak,' marks the culmination of the yatra, which began amid tight security on June 10.

Several thousand personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the CRPF, the BSF and the Army were deployed in Pahalgam and Baltal.

"The yatra concluded today without any incident and tomorrow, the ``charri mubarak'' will return to Pahalgam. It was a smooth affair, which was possible due to the close co-ordination between the various agencies," Abdul Gani Mir, Senior Superintendent of Police, Anantnag, said.

There were two grenade attacks on the pilgrims during the event, leaving a dozen wounded. Militants, however, denied the claims of the police that they were responsible for the attacks.

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