More than 400,000 Hindus took part in a month-long pilgrimage in Indian-held Kashmir, authorities said, shrugging off security worries weeks after a military conflict with Pakistan.

The pilgrimage began on July 3 and closes officially on August 9, but organisers said that lashing rains had damaged narrow paths, forcing a premature end.

Official Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said in a statement late on Saturday that 415,000 pilgrims had taken part.

Many of the faithful began their trek to the Amarnath ice pillar from near Pahalgam, where an April 22 attack in Pahalgam killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists in the Muslim-majority region.

New Delhi, without evidence, said the gunmen were backed by Pakistan, claims Islamabad rejected — triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict.

It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, before a May 10 ceasefire.

New Delhi last week claimed that three Pakistani men who carried out the Pahalgam attack were killed during a gun battle on July 28 in forests adjacent to the hills where the cave shrine is located.

A few devotees may still visit the cave, but the numbers this year fall short of the estimated half a million devotees who took part in 2024.

Officials appealed to Hindus to undertake the pilgrimage, ramping up security for the event by deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to the cave, dedicated to Shiva, the deity of destruction.

On Sunday, Indian forces exchanged fire with gunmen for a third day in Kulgam, far from the Amarnath pilgrimage route.

Soldiers have killed two fighters, a senior police officer said.