Amarnath Yatra of Hindus to Amarnath Cave Temple in Jammu and Kashmir
The Amarnath temple is one of the most revered pilgrimage places in India. The cave is located at 86 miles north east of Srinagar at 13000 feet above sea level. Surrounded by the snow clad mountains, Amarnath enshrines a natural Shivalingam of ice formed by the drops of water oozing in the cave. There is a block of ice representing Lord Ganesh to the left of the Shivalingam and other two ice blocks representing Parvati and Barirava lie to the right of the Shivalingam. A small cave inside Amarnath has a chalk like substance which is given to pilgrims as Vibhuti.
According to the tradition that in every lunar month, the icy Shivalingam begins to form, on the first day of the bright half of the month, and reaches its fullest size on the full moon day, and then begins to wane and disappear on the new moon day. The process repeats itself every month. As it is believed that Shiva manifested himself first on the full moon day in the month of Sravana, it is the only summer month that permits travel to this mountainous area.
When all devas, devatas have rebirths and re-incarnations, it is only Lord Shiva who is beyond birth and death. Surprised by this, goddess Shakti asked Shiva how this was possible for him. Lord Mrutyunjaya replied it to be amara rahasya or deathless secret. When the goddess requested the lord to reveal the secret, he takes her to the lonely Amarnath cave leaving behind all his close attendants. He left Nandi at Pahalgham, Moon at Chandanvari, adorning snakes at Sheshnag, Ganapati at Mahagunas.
He ordered the five nature-elements, the earth, the air, the water, the fire and the space to guard at Panchatarani. While sitting in the cave, Shiva ordered the Kalagni Rudra to burn off the whole surroundings. But a parrot which was hatching under the feet of lord escaped. When Shiva started telling the secret, goddess listened and subsequently she goes to sleep. But the new born parrot listens to everything and makes the sound. Then it escapes from the cave and gets into the womb of Vyasa's wife. It was born as Shuka Brahmarishi. This cave became the holy place as it is in this place, the secret was revealed by Lord Shiva.
Later, a Muslim Shepherd named Buta Malik was given a sack of coal by a sadhu. But after reaching the home, he discovered that the sack contained Gold. Overjoyed, Buta Malik rushed back to look for sadhu and thank him. But on the spot of their meeting discovered a cave, and eventually this became a place of pilgrimage for all believers.
The Dogra king Maharaja Gulab Singh was very much pleased by this discovery that he decreed that a representative of the Malik family would always be present at the holy shrine, along with the Pundits during the period of the pilgrimage each year. Also, the family of the Muslim shepherd was granted a large estate near Pahalgam and exempted from paying land revenue to the state apart from sharing a part of revenue from the temple.
The trek to Amarnath begins at Srinagar. The route covers Pampur, Avantipur, Brijbihara, Anantnag, Gautam Nag, Martand, Pahalgam, Chandanwadi, Pishu Ghati, Seshnag, Wavjan, Mahagunus Pass, Panchatarni and Amarnath.
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