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Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Anantnag district of the Jammu and Kashmir, India. The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 168 km from Anantnag city, the district headquarter, 141 km (88 mi) from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, reached through Pahalgam town. The shrine represents an important part of Hinduism. The cave, located in Lidder Valley, is surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains and is covered with snow most of the year, except for a short period of time in summer when it is open to pilgrims.

In 1989, pilgrims numbered between 12,000 and 30,000. In 2011, the numbers reached a peak, crossing 6.3 lakh (630,000) pilgrims. In 2018 pilgrims numbered 2.85 lakh (285,000). The annual pilgrimage has varied between 20 and 60 days.The Amarnath cave, abode of the Mahamaya Shakti Peetha, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, temples throughout Indian Subcontinent that commemorate the location of fallen body parts of the Hindu deity Sati.

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Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva at the Amarnath Cave Temple

The&nbsp;Shiva Lingam&nbsp;at the shrine is a&nbsp;Swayambhu&nbsp;lingam. The lingam is a natural&nbsp;stalagmite&nbsp;formation located at the&nbsp;Amarnath Mountain&nbsp;which has a peak of 5,186 metres (17,014&nbsp;ft), and inside a 40&nbsp;m (130&nbsp;ft) high cave at an elevation of 3,888&nbsp;m (12,756&nbsp;ft). The stalagmite is formed due to the freezing of water drops that fall from the roof of the cave onto the floor resulting in an upward vertical growth of ice. There are different types of stalagmites. Here, the stalagmites considered as the lingam, a physical manifestation of Shiva, form a solid-dome-shape.&nbsp;Parvati&nbsp;and&nbsp;Ganesha&nbsp;are also present here as two smaller stalagmites.

It is mentioned in the ancient Hindu texts of&nbsp;Mahabharata&nbsp;and&nbsp;Puranas&nbsp;that Lingam represents Shiva.The lingam waxes during May to August, as snow melts in the&nbsp;Himalayas&nbsp;above the cave, and the resultant water seeps into the rocks that form the cave; thereafter, the lingam gradually wanes.&nbsp;As per religious beliefs, it is said that the lingam grows and shrinks with the phases of the moon, reaching its height during the summer festival.&nbsp;According to Hindu religious beliefs, this is the place&nbsp;&nbsp;where&nbsp;Shiva&nbsp;explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort,&nbsp;Parvati.

Lidder Valley, where the cave is located, has a number of glaciers.In 2009,&nbsp;glaciologist&nbsp;Professor M. N. Koul, the former head of the geography department at&nbsp;Jammu University, has said that while more scientific studies are needed, contributors to change in lingam size could include changes in the pathways for water leading to the lingum.The cave is made of limestone and gypsum.&nbsp;Heat generated by tourists, affects the size of the stalagmite.&nbsp;Outside temperate changes also affect its size.&nbsp;To minimize artificially induced temperature changes, helicopter trips and helipad sites are regulated.

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Though, he is called by people and some great sages by many names, there is only one being as per the Rigvedic verses. The scriptures have a famous verse, &ldquo;Ekam Sat&rdquo;, which means there is only one truth. The Parmeshwar has believed to have taken up the affairs of the world in three forms which is called as Holy Trinity. According to the Rigveda, Shiva is considered as the deity who is the purifier of Good and destroyer of evil. Lord Shiva is believed to be a living God, whose presence has been testified from the astronomy, Vedic myths and even some rituals. Findings from Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro verify that, Lords Shiva was a much revered deity of ancient India.

The Amarnath cave has a special significance associated with Lord Shiva. It is said that, Shiva narrated the story of the creation of the universe and the secret of immortality to his companion Parvati, here in this cave. Scriptures say that, once upon a time, Maa Parvati curiously asked Lord Shiva, the reason that made him to wear Mund Mala or beads of head, upon which he replied that, beloved every time you are born, I wear a new head and add it to my Mund mala.

This perplexed Parvati and she asked Lord Shiva, why it is that he is all immortal and she die every time, and her body gets destroyed? Lord Shiva then replied to Parvati, this happens because of the Amar Katha. Upon continuous demand from Maa parvati, he chose a secluded place (so that no one else would be able to listen to the story), to narrate to her the secret of the story of the creation of the world and the most suitable place he found was Amarnath cave.

For the same, he left his bull Nandi at Pahalgam, on which he made his rides, at Chandanwari he left Moon taking it out of his hair, at the bank of Sheshnag he left his snake. He also left his son Ganesha at the Mahagunas Parvat and at Panjtarni he left behind all the five elements that is air, water, earth, sky and fire which are believed to be the building blocks of human beings. Lord Shiva and Parvati also performed Tandav dance as a symbol of sacrificing the earth and reached to the Almarnath cave to carry on their narrative.

Lord Shiva then sat on Samadhi on to the skin of the deer and went into concentrating. In order to make sure that no living being could listen to the story he created Rudra whom he names Kalagni. Shiva asked Rudra to fire up the cave so as to eliminate every trace of a living being. He then started off with narrating the story of the world to Parvati. Inadvertently, an egg which was lying beneath the skin of the deer, got protected and it is believed that the pair of pigeons which were born out of this egg became immortal having listened to the story of the Amar Katha. At various occasions&rsquo; people, while trekking the arduous route have seen the pair of pigeons.

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<h2>REDISCOVERY OF THE CAVE</h2>

Puranas though, tells the story of the sacred cave but there are a number of modern stories related to the rediscovery of the holy cave. One such story as narrated by the people is that of Shepherd Buta Malik. Buta Malik after receiving a bag full of coal went back to his home and when he opened it; to his surprise he found the bag full of coins of Gold. He was more than happy to receive this unexpected gift from the saint and immediately went on to thanking him. But instead of the saint he found the sacred cave and the Shiva Linga. After that, people started considering it a sacred place of pilgrimage.

The book&nbsp;Rajatarangini&nbsp;(Book VII v. 183) refers to Krishaanth or Amarnath. It is believed that, in the 11th century AD, Queen Suryamati gifted&nbsp;trishulas,&nbsp;banalingas&nbsp;and other sacred emblems to this temple.&nbsp;Rajavalipataka, begun by Prjayabhatta, contains detailed references to the pilgrimage to Amarnath Cave Temple. In addition, there are further references to this pilgrimage in many other ancient texts.

According to legend, Sage&nbsp;Bhrigu&nbsp;was the first to have discovered Amarnath. A long time ago, it is believed that the Valley of Kashmir was submerged underwater, and Sage&nbsp;Kashyapa&nbsp;drained it through a series of rivers and rivulets. As a result, when the waters drained, Bhrigu was the first to have&nbsp;darshan&nbsp;of Shiva at Amarnath. Thereafter, when people heard of the lingam, it became an abode of Shiva for all believers and the site of an annual pilgrimage, traditionally performed by&nbsp;lakhs&nbsp;of people in July and August during the Hindu Holy month of Savan.

Fran&ccedil;ois Bernier, a French physician, accompanied Emperor&nbsp;Aurangzeb&nbsp;during his visit to Kashmir in 1663. In his book&nbsp;Travels in Mughal Empire, he provides an account of the places he visited, noting that he was &quot;pursuing journey to a grotto full of wonderful congelations, two days journey from Sangsafed&quot; when he &quot;received intelligence that my&nbsp;Nawab&nbsp;felt very impatient and uneasy on account of my long absence.&quot; The &quot;grotto&quot; referenced in this passage is obviously the Amarnath cave &mdash; as the editor of the second edition of the English translation of the book, Vincent A. Smith, makes clear in his introduction. He writes: &quot;The grotto full of wonderful congelations is the Amarnath cave, where blocks of ice, stalagmites formed by dripping water from the roof are worshipped by many Hindus who resort here as images of Shiva....&quot;

In 1895, pilgrims would first travel to&nbsp;Kheer Bhawani&nbsp;for a brief stop.&nbsp;Sustained by free rations given by the state, the pilgrims would then travel to Srinagar.From Srinagar, in batches, the pilgrims would then head up&nbsp;Lidder Valley, stopping at locations for holy dips.&nbsp;At Mach Bawan, local Hindus would join them. Maliks of Batok were responsible for the route during these years.Sister Nivedita, in&nbsp;Notes of Some Wanderings with the Swami Vivekananda, writes of&nbsp;Swami Vivekananda&#39;s visit to the cave in 1898.

<h2>Temples near Amarnath Temple</h2>

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	<li>Mamleshwar Temple:&nbsp;The ancient and mythologically important temple lies just 1 km from the main Pahalgam centre. The temple dates back to the 5th century and is dedicated to&nbsp;Lord Shiva. According to the legend, this is the place where Goddess Parvati instructs Ganesha to stand guard at the temple entrance and not allow anyone inside.</li>
	<li>Sri Shankaracharya Temple:&nbsp;The famous and ancient temple dedicated to&nbsp;Sri Shankaracharya&nbsp;is located on a hilltop in Srinagar, 88 km from Amarnath base Pahalgam. The temple is also known as Jyesteshwara Temple. The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Shiva. The original shrine is believed to date back to 200 BC. The present structure has been constructed somewhere during the 9th century. The temple is also a sacred site for the Persians,&nbsp;Buddhists, and Jews.</li>
	<li>Martand Sun Temple:&nbsp;The enchanting and ghostly ruins of the once great and beautiful temple dedicated to the Sun God Surya is not to be missed. The temple is located just 40 km from Pahalgam. The foundation of the temple dates back to the 4th century but the temple is believed to have been built in the 8th century by the&nbsp;Lalitaditya Muktapida&nbsp;of the Karkota dynasty. The antechamber of the temple contains ruined sculptures and images of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Ganga, Yamuna, and Surya.</li>
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