Bad weather along both the north and south Kashmir routes of Baltal and Pahalgam on Thursday halted the Amarnath Yatra that officially started earlier in the day.
"It has been raining along both Baltal and Pahalgam treks to the cave shrine since early morning. Pilgrims camped at Baltal and Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camps have been advised not to proceed till the weather improves," an official said.
"All the pilgrims are safe, and a decision on allowing them to proceed further will be taken later," he added.
Officially, the annual Amarnath Yatra began around 4am with the second batch of 3,425 pilgrims leaving Jammu for the two base camps in the Kashmir valley.
Pilgrims left in two groups: The first group of yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas at 3.55am in an escorted convoy for Baltal base camp, and the other group left at 4.20am for Pahalgam base camp.
Thursday's batch included 2,679 males, 592 females, three children and 151 Sadhus, the police said.
The 60-day-long Amarnath Yatra will end on August 26, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.
Nearly 2 lakh pilgrims have registered for the Amarnath Yatra this year, with the majority coming from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana.
The security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra this year have been described as the most stringent, with RFID tagging of pilgrims' vehicles and quick-reaction teams of security personnel being introduced. The security measures come despite a declaration by the Hizbul Mujahideen that it would not target the Amarnath Yatra.