Amarnath Yatra
Amarnath, one of the must visit sacred places for Hindus, is located at a distance of 145 kilometers east of Srinagar in Kashmir. The Amarnath cave is located at an altitude of 4,174 meters above sea level. In the cave there are four or five ice formations resembling the figures of different gods. The biggest figure is considered to be Lord Shiva. The ice Shiva Linga changes size with seasons and when moon waxes and wanes it becomes bigger and smaller. On a full moon day it is reported that the linga attains a height of about 6 feet.
Amarnath Cave has a mysterious legend associated with it. It is believed that this Cave was chosen by Lord Shiva to narrate the secret of his immortality and creation of Universe to Mother Parvati. To tell the Amar Katha, Shiv Ji started his journey with Mata Parvati to find a lonely place so that no one else could hear it. En route he left Nandi (the bull) at Pahalgam (Bail Gaon), released moon from his hairs (jata) at Chandanwari, released snakes at the banks of Lake Sheshnag, left his son Ganesh at Mahagunas Parvat and finally left five elements (Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Sky) at Panjtarni.
Finally he sat on the deerskin and took samadhi to ensure that no mortal overhears the tale. Lord Shiva created Rudra named Kalagni to eliminate everything inside and in the vicinity of the Cave. He narrated the tale to Mata Parvati. Haply, one egg was found underneath the deerskin after the completion of the tale. A pair of pigeons born out of this egg became immortal.
There are many stories about the discovery of the Cave. One of the stories tells that Gujjar (a shepherd) Buta Malik discovered this Holy cave. A saint gave a bag full of coal to Buta Malik. When he reached home to his utter astonishment, the bag was full of gold coins. Butta ran to thank that Saint. Saint was found nowhere but Butta discovered the Holy Cave and Shiv Lingam there in. He recited this story to the villagers and Amarnath became a pilgrimage since then.
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