Amarnath

 



The Amarnath yatra is definitely not for those looking for comfortable journey and Darshan.  For a trekker it is good opportunity to track either from batlal which is close to Sonmarg.  The other trek route is from Pahalgam.  These  routes are also for those who want to walk.  It takes 2- 3 days to complete the trip.  But the route has good pathway for trekking and is more scenic and beautiful 

Baltal route has the availability of horses and dholi or palki.  But the route is quote tough is Also crowded. It is only 10 kms but it will take 7-8 hours to reach

The helicopter option is available from neelgrath near sonmarg.  The ride time is less than 10mts to panchtarni.  Ftom there to Amarnath is 6 kms.  The options available are  trekking horse ride and parking.  The approximate time is 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  At sangam the route from batlal and panchtarni.    There is so much traffic and the time to reach increases.  



For those wanting to 

History 

Centuries ago Maa Parvati asked Shivji to let her know why and when he started wearing the beads of heads (Mund Mala), to which Bhole Shankar replied, “whenever you are born I add more heads to my bead”. Parvati said, “I die again and again, but you are Immortal. Please tell me the reason behind this”. "Bhole Shankar replied that for this you will have to listen to the Amar Katha"


Shiv agreed to narrate the detailed story to Maa Parvati. He started for a lonely place where no living being could listen to the immortal secret and ultimately chose Amarnath Cave. In the hush-hush, he left his Nandi (the Bull which He used to ride) at Pahalgam. At Chandanwari, he released Moon (Chand) from his hair (Jataon). At the banks of Lake Sheshnag, he released the snakes. He decided to leave his Son Ganesha at Mahagunas Parvat. At Panjtarni, Shivji left the Five Elements behind (Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Sky) which give birth to life and of which he is the Lord. After leaving behind all these, Bhole Shankar entered the Holy Amarnath Cave along with Parvati Maa and took his Samadhi. To ensure that no living being is able to hear the Immortal Tale, he created Kalagni and ordered him to spread fire to eliminate every living thing in and around the Holy Cave. After this he started narrating the secret of immortality to Maa Parvati. But as a matter of chance a pair of pigeons eggs were under the deer skin inside the cave.  Shiva had brushed aside the deer skin without realizing the  presence of the eggs.  These 2 overhead the story whe the hatched which was the same time Parvati started falling asleep.  These continued listening and saying mmmm... at right places.    Since it was not supposed to be heard by anyone Shiva cursed the pigeons that the live and die in the cave itself.


Many pilgrims report seeing the pair of pigeons at the Holy Shrine even today and are amazed as to how these birds survive in such a cold and high altitude area.


The Holy Cave


Discovery of Holy Cave

Although the existence of the Holy Cave has been mentioned in the Puranas, the popular story narrated by people about the re-discovery of this Holy Cave is of a shepherd Buta Malik. Story goes like this: a saint gave Buta Malik a bag full of Coal. On reaching his home when he opened the bag, to his utter surprise the bag was full of gold coins. This overwhelmed him with joy. He ran to thank the Saint. But the Saint had disappeared. Instead, he found The Holy Cave and the Ice Shiv Lingam there in. He announced this discovery to the Villagers. Then onwards this became a sacred place of Pilgrimage.  

The Eternal Shiva

The ancient epics narrate another story. The valley of Kashmir was under water. It was all a big lake. Kashyap Rishi drained the water through a number of rivers and rivulets. In those days Bhrigu Rishi came that way on a visit to The Himalayas. He was the first to have Darshan of this Holy Cave. When people heard of the Lingam, Amarnath for them became Shiva's abode and a Centre of pilgrimage.

Since then Lacs of devotees perform the pilgrimage through tough terrain and achieve eternal happiness. The Trek to Amarnath, in the month of sharavan (July-August) has the devout flock to this incredible shrine, where the image of Shiva, in the form of a Lingam, is formed naturally of an Ice Stalagmite, which is believed to wax and wane with the Moon's cycle. By its side are fascinating, two more Ice Lingams, that of Maa Parvati and of their son, Ganesha.









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Giving back to Society

When I joined Rotary Club of Chennai Thiruvanmiyur , I didnt understand what changes a club can make to somebody unknown. Our club had taken up Adult Literacy program in a very remote village near Pondi , which is quite far away from our city. While the project objectives were good, the distance and the way the then President had taken this project unilaterally, made all of us not to think too much of it. But a Project is a Project done with a Goodness. This is a such a remote village, where the main occupation of the people is fishing in the nearby Pondi reservoir . That is also halted when the Krishna waters comes into the reservoir . When the program was started it was with reluctance that the people joined. The President came up with the idea to give one kg of rice to the people who are attending the program, whenever he visited them. That became the great motivator as for people who dont know when their next meal will be or where it will come from - it became a boon ...
Read more

IT SME FORUM

About 7 months back a group of Entrepreneurs from Chennai who had a common thread of running their software companies got togehter to form a cohesive group - The IT SME FORUM - as a Strategy to accelerate their individual growth through synergy. Each one of these entrepreneurs are successfully running their software companies fighting individual battles to keep the company up and running, maintain a steady growth rate, increase their customer base, etc. Running a company in India is not a easy task - it is literally getting pulled in thousands of direction and believe me - A business leader is supposed to concentrate only on Growth - Marketing - Sales. But I have found that typically in the Indian environ, we get pulled into operations and managing to spend some time for the most crucial aspect of the business. This gave rise to the idea - why not have a platform to share the best practices, to learn how to tackle problems, get a better voice and get a big bandwidth in terms of out rea...
Read more
Thanks to Aravind who wanted me to write about the Temple at thiruvotriyur in chennai. that was one of those days when you get up early in morning and the whole world looks very frustrating and you dont know what to do. it became a God send message to me. So started my preparation to go the temple. I reside in the south chennai and the the Temple is at Thiruvotriyur in North Chennai. and the travel time will be more than 1.30 hours. So we started at 10.30 and reached around 11.45. The temple closes at 12 noon after the mid day pooja. What a divine visit it was. I came back so calm and filled with energy. This is a Shiva temple and the God is known as Tyagarajar, Adipureeswarar and Padampakka Nathar. The main deity is said be in the form of Lingam formed of Mud which is covered with Golden cover sheet. Once a year during Karthik Poornima, the Gold cover is removed and the necessary abishekam is performed and the once again the Lingam is covered with all the medicinal materials. His conc...
Read more