Amarnath

(“The Undying Lord”) Sacred site
(tirtha) and pilgrimage place located
high in the mountains of Kashmir, dedicated to the god Shiva in the form of
Amarnath (The Undying Lord). The
focus of the site is a limestone cave,
where each year melting snow trickling
through the limestone fissures naturally
forms a pillar of ice. At its largest, this
pillar can be more than seven feet tall,
but this can vary significantly from year
to year depending on the weather. The
most common aniconic image of Shiva
is the linga, a cylindrical form imperfectly described as a “phallic symbol.”
Hindus believe that the ice pillar in the
Amarnath cave is a svayambhu, or “selfmanifested,” linga of Shiva. Such lingas
are not made by human beings but are
places where Shiva decides to reveal
himself, out of love for his devotees
(bhakta). Any svayambhu image is
believed to be particularly holy because
Shiva is thought to be uniquely present.
These sites are often seen as places
where prayers and worship are particularly efficacious.
The Amarnath cave is in a remote
spot that is inaccessible for most of the
year due to snow. The pilgrimage takes
place during the month of Shravan
(July–August), with travelers timing
their trip to arrive on the day
of the full moon. The pilgrimage
officially begins at the Dashanami
Sanyasi akhara in Shrinagar and is led
by the akhara’s leader (mahant), who
carries a silver mace as an emblem of his
authority. This preeminence is given to
ascetics because they are living symbols
of Shiva himself, who is the perfect
ascetic. Most pilgrims start their journey
at the town of Pahalgam. From there
they walk almost thirty miles to
30
Amalaka
Amarnath, crossing two mountain
ranges on the way. Although the region
is thinly settled for most of the year, during the pilgrimage season, camps and
businesses spring up along the route;
many are run by local Kashmiri
Muslims, for whom this is a major
source of livelihood. The offerings at the
shrine are evenly split between the
mahant, the local pandas (Hindu
pilgrimage priests), and a group of
Muslims from a village near Pahalgam
who traditionally maintained the road,
although the state has done this since
India has gained independence. During
the early 1990s, parts of Kashmir were a
war zone between Indian government
forces and a variety of Kashmiri Muslim
groups, some of which pressed for
greater self-determination and others
for unification with Pakistan. These
problems have affected the pilgrimage,
which passes through some of the most
contested areas. In 1994 there were several attacks on travelers, reportedly
prompted by pilgrims chanting antiMuslim slogans, and in 1995 the pilgrimage took place under heavy security
provided by the Indian army. The 1996
pilgrimage had no political turmoil, but
several hundred people died of
hypothermia caused by a sudden unseasonable snowstorm.