KEY POINTS:
Up to 400,000 Hindu pilgrims in northern India are facing disappointment after it was revealed that a naturally formed ice stalagmite - worshipped as an incarnation of Lord Shiva - has melted.
Those making the 16km trek will at best be confronted by a puddle.
"Yes, there will be some disappointment for the pilgrims as the main [stalagmite] has completely melted," said Arun Kumar, a senior official with the organisation that oversees the annual pilgrimage.
The phallus-shaped icy stalagmite, or lingam, forms annually in a cave in Indian Kashmir and over a two-month period it attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who come to pray in front of the incarnation of the Hindu god of destruction and regrowth.
Most years the stalagmite lasts the duration of the pilgrimage. However, this year - as with last - that has not been the case. Experts say that one of the reasons for the melting of the ice is the heat created in the cave by countless numbers of pilgrims, many of whom are carrying candles. Some of the pilgrims fly in by helicopter and there are lights specially set up for people.
The first group of about 12,000 devotees set off on Monday, heavily guarded by thousands of troops against Muslim militants who in previous years have targeted the pilgrims.
On Sunday, officials said they had found and defused a roadside bomb along the pilgrims' route.
For Hindus, the pilgrimage and the attendant festival of Shravani Mela is one of the holiest events of their calendar. According to Hindu tradition, the cave is where Lord Shiva revealed to his wife Parvarti the secrets of life and eternity.
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