Amarnath Temple or Amarnath Cave is the most prominent pilgrimage place for the devotees of Bhagwan Shiva, which is famous for the naturally formed ice Shivling of Bhagwan Shiva. Every year lakhs of tourists visit this religious place which is known as Amarnath Yatra. The Amarnath cave located here is considered to be an important place for pilgrims, which is said to be the place where Bhagwan Shiva narrated the immortal story to Parvati and told the secret of her immortality, hence this place is called Amarnath. .
Devi Parvati Shakti Peeth is also located in this cave, which is said to be one of the 51 Shaktipeeths of Mata Sati and here the throat of Mata Sati fell.
While narrating this story, Bhagwan Shiva also made a Rudra who had set this cave on fire that no living person could find this story but a pigeon hid its eggs there and later it turned into a pair of pigeons. It is said that those pigeons became immortal after listening to the \"Amar Katha\".
Religious Significance of Amarnath Cave
Amarnath Cave is located at an altitude of 13000 feet at a distance of 135 km near Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Amarnath Cave is a pilgrimage site of highest religious importance in India. The height of this holy cave is 19 meters, depth is 19 meters and width is 16 meters. The most special thing about this cave is that natural Shivling is formed from snow here. It is also called Barfani Baba or Himani Shivling because of the natural and miraculous formation of Shiva Linga here.
The size of the Amarnath cave is about 150 feet. In this, drops of ice water keep dripping from place to place. About ten feet long Shivling is formed from the snow droplets dripping from these drops. With the increase and decrease of the moon, its size also keeps on increasing.
The surprising thing is that this Shivling is made of solid ice, many feet away from the main Shivling of Amarnath; different icebergs of Ganesh, Bhairav and Parvati are also formed.
Lokprachalit Katha
The Amarnath cave was first known to Buta Malik, a Muslim shepherd in the sixteenth century. Even today, the fourth offering of the temple is given to the descendants of that Muslim shepherd. Also, all the flower sellers here are also Muslims.
It is said that this shepherd met a monk in the forest while grazing animals. The monk gave Buta a kangri filled with coal. When he reached home, he was very surprised and at the same time found gold in the kangri instead of coal. But there a huge cave was found in place of the monk and from that day this place became a pilgrimage.
Such stories are also prevalent that the devotees on whom Shiva is pleased Parvati gives a direct darshan to them in the form of a pair of pigeons and they attain salvation.
Amarnath Yatra also known as Chadi Mubarak begins as a procession with many devotees and sages. Lakhs of people come here for the holy Himlinga Darshan, which takes place in the entire Sawan month starting from Ashadh Purnima till Rakshabandhan. The Amarnath Shrine Board takes all the responsibility of taking care of all the pilgrims visiting during this period.
Best time to visit Amarnath:
The best time to visit Amarnath Cave is between May and September. The Amarnath Cave Yatra begins every year during the months of July and August which is an ideal time for tourists. The temperature here drops to -8 degrees during winters and it becomes difficult to bear the cold.
Thousands of Central Armed Forces and State Police personnel are deployed every year to provide security to the pilgrims from potential terror threats.
Important things for the registration of Amarnath Yatra:
◉ Registration and travel permits are available for Amarnath Yatra. Only one passenger can travel with one travel permit.
◉ Each registration branch is allotted a fixed day and route to register the passengers. The registration branch decides that the number of passengers per route should not exceed the quota.
◉ Every traveler is required to submit a health certificate along with obtaining a travel permit for the journey.
◉ The forms for registration and health certificate are made available online by SASB.
◉ While applying for a travel permit, it is necessary for the passengers to carry a health certificate, four passport size photographs with them.
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