Amarnath Cave

Pahalgam tehsil, Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir

Photo: Gktambe at English Wikipedia, Public domain

About

Amarnath is a cave high in the Kashmir Himalaya, about 3,888 metres above sea level, reached on foot from Pahalgam or Baltal. Every summer, water dripping from the roof freezes into a tall ice Shivling that devotees call Baba Barfani, with two smaller ice forms honoured as Maa Parvati and Ganesh ji. The Tantra Chudamani names Kashmir among the Shakti Peeths, and the lists place that peeth in this cave: here the throat of Devi Sati is believed to have fallen, and the Devi is worshipped as Mahamaya. Old Kashmiri writings call the pilgrimage the Amareshwar yatra.

The story

The Shakti Peeth story says that after the sorrowful events at King Daksha's yagya, Shiv ji carried Devi Sati's body in grief, and Vishnu ji's Sudarshan chakra divided it; in Kashmir, where her throat fell, Devi Mahamaya is honoured with Trisandhyeshwar as her Bhairav.

The cave's own story is the Amar Katha. Maa Parvati asked Shiv ji to tell her the secret of immortality, and he chose a place where no living being could listen. On the way he left Nandi at Pahalgam, the moon from his hair at Chandanwari, his snakes at Sheshnag lake, Ganesh ji at Mahagunas and the five elements at Panchtarni. In the cave he told the katha, but a pair of pigeons, hatched from an egg left under his seat, heard it too; pilgrims still look for them near the cave. Tradition also says Rishi Bhrigu was the first to see the cave, and a folk tale tells of a shepherd, Buta Malik, who found it through a sadhu. The holy mace carried with the yatra, the Chhari Mubarak, recalls the staff that Shiv ji gave Rishi Bhringish to protect the pilgrims.

Visiting

The cave opens only for the summer yatra, and the dates are announced each year by the shrine board. The path is high, cold and steep: get fit before you go, carry woollens and rain wear, and follow official advice. The southern route from Pahalgam passes Chandanwari, Sheshnag lake and Panchtarni; the northern route from Baltal is shorter but steeper.

Festivals

Amarnath Yatra (Ashadh to Shravan, about July to August)
Shravan Purnima: the Chhari Mubarak reaches the cave

51 Shakti Peeths

Sources