Place · ice-linga cave · India
Amarnāth cave
Also known as Amarnāth
The 3,888-metre cave in Anantnag district, Kashmir, where an ice stalagmite forms seasonally through condensation and recedes with the summer thaw — a self-manifest Shiva linga that is literally seasonal, and one of the twelve traditional months of Hindu pilgrimage. The cave is reached from Pahalgam or Baltal through a 30-kilometre trek open only for about 60 days each July-August. The pilgrimage was 'rediscovered' by a Muslim shepherd named Buta Malik in the 15th century; the Malik family still receives a portion of the pilgrim offerings. In 2017 the Islamist attack on a bus of pilgrims returning from Amarnath killed eight; security has required army deployment since.
- Periods
- Classical and Puranic Age, Republic and Living Practice
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Tradition
- Shaiva pilgrimage tradition
- Confidence
- Mixed / layered — The place is documented; its associated historical or cultural record and its named tradition are distinct layers.
- Location
- 34.215, 75.501
Worth knowing
The famous ice formation inside Amarnath Cave is created naturally when water freezes under the cave’s particular environmental conditions. Its apparent growth and shrinking with the lunar cycle has traditionally been interpreted religiously. The cave therefore combines a striking natural phenomenon with one of India’s best-known Shiva pilgrimage traditions.
Connections (1)
- Himalayan pilgrim pairVaishno Devī
Amarnāth's ice liṅga and Vaiṣṇo Devī's cave are the two great Himalayan pilgrimages of Jammu and Kashmir, and both are caves rather than buildings, with the object of worship formed by the rock or the water itself. One is seasonal and reached over a pass; the other runs all year and takes eight million people.
On these journeys
Sources
Amarnath Temple
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