Srinagar, June 1 -- This year, though, something felt different. The usual crowd was thinner. Many seats on the buses were empty. The shadow of the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 people-mostly tourists-lost their lives, hung over the journey.

But for people like Shruti Dhar, the decision to go wasn't up for debate.

"I am a regular visitor to Kheer Bhawani and have no fear of going there this time around," she said, standing near her bus. "We have been witnessing such situations from our childhood days. Whatever happened in Pahalgam is highly condemnable and barbaric."

Dhar, who left Srinagar's Sanat Nagar in the 1990s and now lives in Jammu, held her ticket and a small plastic bag of offerings close to her chest. "I want to pray for the ...