Jammu: Thousands of Hindus have put off the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath cave in Northern Kashmir by the weekend massacre of Hindus in a Kashmiri slum, organisers said on July 16, but devout ascetics vowed they would not be deterred.

"There will be a definite negative impact on the pilgrimage from July 13 massacre," said Ramakant Dube, president of Baba Amarnath Yatri Niwas, a trust that looks after the needs of pilgrims.

"We have noticed that whenever there is such a big incident, the number of pilgrim tourists always comes down," added Dube, who is also the state leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad .

On July 13, militants disguised as Hindu holy men entered a shantytown on the outskirts of Kashmir's winter capital Jammu and opened random fire, killing 28 people and injuring 35 others.

The incident was the worst militant attack since May when a bus and Army camp at Kaluchak near Jammu was targeted and 35 people, including the attackers, were killed.

Officials of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, who are organising transport and security for the pilgrims, said around 90,000 people had registered so far.

"It is difficult to say how many will finally turn up," said an official, who did not want to be identified.

Usually, between 1,25,000 and 1,50,000 pilgrims arrive each year for the pilgrimage to the revered Amarnath Temple cave high in the Himalayan mountains.

The month-long pilgrimage will commence from Monday and security forces have deployed up to 15,000 soldiers and 500 crack commandos to guard the route.

Pilgrims walk the last 36 kilometres (22.5 miles) of the arduous three-day journey to offer prayers inside the cave, where there is an ice replica of the Hindu god Shiva.

Dube said militants had already triggered two blasts along the route in the past few weeks, making it clear they intend to create trouble for the pilgrims.

He said the scheduled visits to India of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, which coincides with the pilgrimage, had also heightened chances of militant violence.

"The militants usually greet such high-profile visits by killing people. The Amarnath pilgrims could well be the target," he said.

Last year, 10 pilgrims were killed by militants along the route and the year before that 32, according to police figures.

Fears of violence, however, have not dampened the religious ardour of Hindu ascetics who have been pouring into the city over the last week or so to start the first leg of their pilgrimage.

"Why should we be afraid? We have already renounced our worldly desires," said Raj Rajeshwari Naga Baba, who reached Jammu from the Western state of Gujarat by walking, hitching rides and taking buses and trains.

"I have no fear and like every year, will this year also visit the holy Amarnath temple," he said.

Some pilgrims, however, said greater security and regulation of the event by the authorities in view of the threat from militants had affected the mood.

"I have been coming on the pilgrimage for the last 13 years," said Sridhar Maharaj, an ascetic from the Northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan.

"But of late, the atmosphere is just not the same. The security people frisk us from top to bottom at each and every point," he said.

"I ask, how is it the militants are still able to get away and attack pilgrims?"

Maharaj was at a camp along the route in 2001 when militants, who killed pilgrims and the soldiers guarding them, attacked it.

"It was a sight I cannot forget. The militants were firing away and people were screaming and ducking for cover," he said.

"There was hardly anyone to help them."

Maharaj, however, remained defiant. "I am not bothered by any militant threats," he said.