Amarnath caves is one of the most famous of Hindu temples, dedicated to Lord Shiva, located in Jammu and Kashmir, India.
The temple is reported to be around 5000 years old and is a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus – about 400,000 people visit during the 45 day season around the festival of Shravani Mela in July-August, coinciding with the Hindu holy month of Shravan.
Inside the Amarnath Cave lies the ice Shiva Linga (along with two other ice formations representing Ganesh and Parvathi) a natural formation of an ice stalagmite in the form of lingam.
This lingam, of Shiva is said to grow and shrink with the phases of the moon, reaching it’s height during the summer festival.
The cave is situated at an height of 3888 mts about 141 km from the Kashmir’s capital city of Srinigar. The area is under the control of the Indian Army due to terrorism threats and hence prior permission is needed from the government before making the pilgrimage.
With a fresh batch of 2,883 pilgrims left for Amarnath in Jammu on today, the total number of pilgrims who left the base camp for their journey to holy cave shrine has reached 17,636 since it began on June 17.
The exact discovery of the cave is not clear, though it is commonly believed that a Gujjar (natives of Kashmir) shepherd found the cave and was given a bag by a saint in it. When he returned home he found them to be gold coins, and this got the entire village excited and believed that the cave is the home to the Lord.
The Amarnath Yatra, according to Hindu beliefs, begins on Ashadha Poornima (Full Moon Day of Hindu Month ‘Ashadha’) and ends on Shravana Poornima (Full Moon Day of Hindu Month ‘Shravana’) amidst tight security and adverse weather conditions.
*(Data Extracted from the Local News Papers and Websites)
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