 |
| Amarnath |
Thousands of Hindu pilgrims set on a
daunting and challenging pilgrimage to the Amarnath Cave. This is a Hindu
Shrine which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Pilgrims throng here to have a glimpse
of the ice linga. There are two more ice formations representing Lord Ganesha
and Goddess Parvati. It is one of the holiest shrines highly revered by Hindus
and is located in Jammu and Kashmir. Raghukul Holidays one of the pioneers in
pilgrimage trip planning organizes trips to this holy shrine and makes the
yatra a wonderful and memorable experience. To know the history and
significance of the holy shrine is very important before visiting it.
- In ‘Rajtarangini’ which is the History of Kashmir, Kalhan has written that it is believed that the Amarnath cave has been visited by pilgrims for thousand years before Christ.
- According to the Puranas, Brighu Muni had visited the cave and had the first darshan. He had revived the valley of Kashmir which had got submerged underwater and when the water had drained, he had the first glimpse of the Lord.
- There are references that show that the legendary king Aryaraja used to worship this Linga formed of ice.
- In the 11th century Queen Suryamathi gifted tridents or trishuls, banalingas and other emblems that are considered to be sacred to this Holy Shrine.
- According to the Hindu Legend, it is here that Lord Shiva explained to his consort Parvati the secret of life and eternity. Goddess Parvati was very insistent to know the secret of immortality. Lord Shiva was not willing to but after many attempts of persuasion, he had to give in. He said that anyone who listens to the story will become immortal. He searched for a place where no living thing resided. It was the Amarnath cave which the Lord chose. It is believed that he removed the bhibuti and chandan or sandalwood from his forehead and the place where he did it has come to be known as Chandanwari. At the banks of the river Nil Ganga he asked Nandi (ox) to stay and not to allow any creature to enter the cave. This place was called ‘Bailgam’ in ancient days and later it came to be known as Pahalgam. The glacial lake on which Shiva kept his snake is called Sheshnag Lake. The Mahagunush Top is the place where he made his son Ganesha seat. Droplets of water that fell from the shaking of his deadlocks formed five streams and it came to be known as ‘Panchtarani’. During the course of his story narration i.e. the Amarnath, Maa Parvati slept, but, two pigeons were listening to the story and hearing their cooing sound Lord Shiva mistook that Goddess Parvati was listening and continued the narration. This made the two pigeons immortal. It is believed that the pigeons are visible even today in the cave.
- Another story states that King Nagaraj approached Rishi Kashyap to help him deal with the Asuras who were troubling him. The Rishi prayed to Lord Shiva who gave him a ‘Chhadi Mubarak’ or ‘Silver Stick’ and directed them to come to the holy cave where He will bless the devotees. Since then the Yatra is done by the devotees who accompany a monk with the Chhadi Mubarak on the full moon day of Raksha Bandhan during the month of Saawan(August) to perform rituals and puja every year.
For thousands of years the cave was
not visited due to external invasions and natural calamities. The Holy cave was
discovered in the 15th century by a Muslim shepherd Buta Mallik. He was once given a sack
of coal by a sage and after opening he found the sack full of gold. In order to
express his gratitude he followed the sage and on reaching the cave he chanced
upon the ‘Ice Lingam’. He showed the
route to the other sages and thus the Amarnath Yatra commenced. One-fourth of
the offerings given to the temple are shared with the descendents of Mallik who
also perform the evening Aarthi here.
Raghukul holidays has made the dream
come true of many pilgrims by making the visit to the abode of Lord Bholenath a
great experience.
---------------------x-------------------
Please feel free to post your comments below.
About Author :- Amit Kulkarni is the founder of Raghukul Holidays.
0 comments:
Post a Comment