Thousands of Kashmiris offer prayers for rain amid heat wave, dry spell

Thousands of Kashmiris walked bare-footed to the mausoleum of 14th century philosopher and saint Sheikh-Ul-Alam Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani praying for rain amid scorching heat and a prolonged dry spell in the region.

The congregational supplication on Sunday was held at Charar-i-Sharief shrine located in central Budgam district of the India-administered Kashmir.

Ghulam Hussain Khanday, a farmer who was part of the congregation, said that special prayers were held at the shrine for early rain.

"In the past, whenever Kashmir witnessed long dry spells, we prayed here and God answered our prayers," he said. "This is our faith."

People also held prayers at many local mosques to end the dry spell.

Sheikh Showkat, a law and social expert, said such practices have been part of Kashmiri culture "where people used to hold special prayers at various shrines and mosques."

The Kashmir region has been experiencing intense heat waves and high temperatures amid a prolonged dry spell in recent weeks.

The mercury has reached more than 36C (96.8F).

At many places, water sources have dried up, while farmers are worried about their crops.

On Sunday, the Kashmir region registered its fourth highest maximum temperature in the month of July of 36.2C (97.1F).

The all-time highest maximum temperature was recorded at 38.3C (100.9F) on July 10, 1946 and the second highest at 37C (98.6F) on July 9, 1999. The third highest temperature was recorded at 36.6C (97.8F ) in July 1997.

Mukhtar Ahmad, a meteorology expert, said the Kashmir region witnessed no rain for the past three weeks.

"Only 11 millimetres of rain has been received for July so far in the region," he said.

"This is turning quite bad, but we are hopeful that the mercury will come down in the coming weeks. There are chances of intermittent rainfall at some places in the region, but not enough," he added.