Amarnath Yatra: Sojourn in the realm of the living God

Smita Mishra Mahesh Khatri, a small farmer in Madhya Pradesh, is anxiously waiting for the rains. He has pledged to give a cauldron full of rice porridge in the local deity’s temple if the rains are on time. He wishes to save some money so that he is able to go on holy pilgrimage to Amarnath like his moneyed co-villagers. Life has given him very little to cherish and he at least wants to ensure his happiness in the next world. Khatri is not the only one who wants to go on the holy pilgrimage and is painfully squeezing out hard-earned silver to pay for his long cherished dream of going to Amarnath next year. There are thousands like him scattered over the extensive Indian terrain, dreaming, planning and preparing for the sacred journey that takes place during the month of Shravan (July- August).The sanctity and piousness of Amarnath can be gauged from the fact that despite the arduous terrain, lakhs visit the shrine every year. After all the Prime Mover cannot be actualized by easy means.There must be some truth in the epithet-“faith can move mountains”, otherwise why would multitudes year after year scale tortuous mountains, cross dangerous rivers, brave chancy landslides and risk blood freezing glaciers in pursuit of some impalpable, unknown and unseen divinity. To imperil one’s life just to have a glimpse of a stalagmite hidden in some sequestered cave 14,500 ft above the earth may seem crazy but only to some loony skeptic. For all others it’s a holy journey, a journey in search of the living God, the lord of the wild…lord Amarnath.. The query that pricks the mind of someone who is alien to the sacredness of the ancient pilgrimage is –why do people go to Amarnath and how at all could someone discover an ice linga in so secluded a place! The answer is history itself.The myth The mythical romance shrouded around the ice lingam and the holy cave is as fascinating as the peculiar god around whom it is woven . Tradition says that it was in the cave of Amarnathji that Siva related to Parvati the secret of Creation. He chose this place because of its isolation and aloofness. Siva took all possible precaution so that the secret of creation would not get revealed to any other soul. Enroute to Amarnath he left behind his inalienable companions. He left his bull Nandi at Pahalgam, the moon at Chandanwari, the snakes at Lake Sheshnag, Ganesh at Mahaganesh hills and the five elements at Panchtarni. He even created a demon Kalagni to guard the cave from any intruder. But unknown to both Siva and Parvati a pair of pigeons which had made the cave their home heard the entire tale and became immortal and made the cave their eternal home. Pilgrims often report seeing a pair of pigeons on their way to Amarnath. Another legend credits the discovery of the holy cave to a Muslim shepherd Buta Mallik. It is said that the shepherd was given a sack of coal by a wandering recluse. But the bag turned out to be one filled with gold nuggets. When the shepherd ran back to thank the recluse for the gold, he did not find him, but instead discovered a cave with an amazing ice formation resembling Shiva’s phallic emblem. Soon the story spread and flocks of people began to come to offer obeisance. Till date a percentage of the shrine’s donations is given to the descendants of the Muslim shepherd. There is yet another folklore which recounts that the cave was actually discovered by Bhrigu Rishi - at a time when Kashmir was submerged in water and Kashyap Rishi had just drained it dry.The risky road and the ravishing splendour The 5000 year old shrine which is said to be the gateway to heaven is situated in Kashmir Himalayas. The road to the cave is an onerous one, but is full of excitement and adventure. It is extremely important to be physically fit to brave the vagaries of nature and the strenuousness of the road leading to the almost inaccessible shrine. The pilgrims trek from Pahalgam and cover the gruelling distance of 45 kms in 4-5 days. The roads are inaccessible due to snow from June to September and it is only in July that it is possible to go to Amarnath, making the trek on the slippery mountains in the rainy season even more difficult. But the bounty that awaits at the summit is worth the endeavour. Situated amidst tall mountains, resplendent valleys , pristine snow and auric cedar trees the place reflects a magical splendour. But the most breathtaking sight is encountered as one enters the cave. The huge white Siva linga made of pure white snow and three smaller ones representing Ganesh, Bhairava and Parvati seem almost incredulous to the eyes. The main linga which waxes and wanes with the moon has stoically stood the onslaughts of time lending perhaps some truth to its divine origin. The lurking danger But the glory of Amarnath has been much impaired during the last few years. It is no longer the Elysium of peace and immortality. From the terror attacks by senseless fundamentalists to the perpetual controversies between the shrine board and the politicians, the place has been robbed of some of its sanctity. The killings of the innocent pilgrims on way to the holy shrine have not been isolated occurrences. The gutless slayers of innocent, unarmed pilgrims, some of who spend their whole life’s savings to undertake this journey, have tried to scare off devotees from this ageless yatra. The melting faith? A recent news that has been hitting the headlines, much to the vexation of the devout believers is the melting of the ice linga and experts as usual put the entire blame once again on the greatest malefactor of the 21st century…global warming. But not all speculations and research can be always cent percent true. History holds evidence that the size of the linga has never ever been the same and it keeps changing with the changing season and there have been times when the linga has been reported to have disappeared altogether particularly on the Raksha Bandhan day only to be formed into a 6 feet statue the very next year! It’s good that our government is concerned about the shrine.But to let a censor-free analysis of the linga’s status is more like playing with people’s belief. And here I can’t resist the temptation of quoting Keats…who had sorrowfully commented on the scientific explication of rainbow?

Do not all charms fly at the mere touch of cold philosophy?

There was an awful rainbow once in heaven.

We know her woof, her texture

She is given in the dull catalogue of common things…….. Aren’t we meddling too much with Nature and its ways? Is so much analysis and interpretation really required? Should we really make the shrine and its God an object of lab experiment? Will not just regulating the number of pilgrims to the shrine and maintaining a remote tab on the pristine ecology be a sufficient solution for the time being? Who knows there may really be a living God assaying the earth from his lofty throne brooding silently and ruminating by himself……………