Amarnath

One of the most sacrosanct places in India as considered by the followers of Hindu religion is Amarnath temple which is dedicated to worshipping Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is called by people and some great sages by many names, there is only one being as per the Rig Ved verses. The scriptures have a famous verse, “Ekam Sat”, which means there is only one truth. The Parmeshwar has believed to have taken up the affairs of the world in three forms which is called as Holy Trinity. According to the Rig Ved, Lord Shiva is considered as the deity who is the purifier of Good and destroyer of evil. Lord Shiva is believed to be a living God, whose presence has been testified from the astronomy, Vedic myths, and even some rituals. Finding from Harappa and Mohanjo-Daro (Ancient civilization in South Asia) verify that, Lord Shiva was a much-revered deity in ancient India.

Legend of Amarnath

The Amarnath cave has a special significance associated with Lord Shiva. It is said that Lord Shiva narrated the story of the creation f the universe and the secret of immortality to his companion Parvati, here in this cave. Scripture says that once upon a time, Maa Parvati curiously asked Lord Shiva, the reason why that made him to wear Mund Mala(beads of the head), upon which he replied that, beloved every time you are born, I wear a new head and add it to my Mund Mala. This perplexed Parvati and she asked Lord Shiva, why it is that he is all immortal and she die every time, and her body gets destroyed? Lord Shiva the replied to Parvati, this happens because of Amar Katha. Upon continuous demand from Maa Parvati, he chose a secluded place to narrate her the secret of the story of the creation of the world and the most suitable place he found was Amarnath cave.

For the same, he left his bull Nandi at Pahalgam, on which he made his rides, at Chandanwari he left Moon talking it out of his hair. At the bank of Sheshnag he left his snake. He also left his son Ganesh at the Mahagunas Parvat and at Panitarni he left behind all the five elements that are air, water, earth, sky and fire which are believed to be the building blocks of human beings. Lord Shiva and Ma Parvati also performed Tanday dance as a symbol of sacrificing the earth ad reached to the Amarnath cave on their narrative. Lord Shiva then sat on Samadhi on to the skin of the deer and went into concentrating. In order to make sure that no living being could listen to the story he created Rudra whom he named Kalagni. Lord Shiva asked Rudra to fire up the cave so as to eliminate every trace of a living being. He then started of with narrating the story of the world to Parvati.

Discovery of Cave in Modern India

The Amarnath cave was discovered by a Shepherd of Batakot, Buta Malik, when he lost his folk and found that it had strayed into the sacred spot some 1800 AD.  There he received a bag full of coal from an unknown saint. He carried bag back to his home along with his sheep and when he opened it, to his surprise he found the bag full of coins of Gold. He was more than happy to receive this unexpected gift from the saint and immediately went on to thank him. But instead of the saint, he found the sacred cave and the Siva Linga. After that, people started considering it a sacred place of pilgrimage.  

Location

Amarnath temple is located in Kashmir, 145 km east of Srinagar and the trek begins on the Panchami day of the bright half of the month at Srinagar. The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m, and reached through Pahalgam town.

Make a right plan for trek, and experience the beautiful cave where once Lord Shiva narrated the story of the creation of the universe to his beloved Ma Parvati.