A large number of tourists are visiting Kashmir to enjoy the heady mix of snow-clad mountains and bright sunshine in the union territory, away from the summer heat in the other parts of the country.

"I had imagined the beauty of Kashmir from my childhood ... And this place is certainly more beautiful than I imagined," Balarata Patra, a Kolkata resident, told PTI here, 85 kilometres from Srinagar on the highway to Ladakh.