JOURNEY TO PARADISE (AMARNATH YATRA)

“ॐ नमः पार्वती पतये हर हर महादेव”

Amarnath Yatra is a journey for healing the mind and the soul. This journey betide through the Heavens of India, “Jammu and Kashmir”. The trek of the devotes via Pahalgam up the stiff, sloppy and ice covered road in the chilly weather, is worth a sight. People, possessing the devotion for Lord Shiv in their heart, complete the 46 km trek usually in 3-5 days. After going through all these hurdles the devotees finally witness the Amaranth Cave Shrine where the stalagmite “the Shiv Linga” is formed, due to the freezing of water drops that falls from the roof of the amaranth cave.

This journey starts in the first week of Shrawan, the month of June-August as described in the Hindu calendar, to the venerated cave which is covered in ice for most part of the year. This cave which  remains closed for rest of the year, opens in June, for the pilgrim's visit, but this year it is not possible as the Indian Government has put a hold on the Yatra, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Many devout Hindus, start fasting in Shrawan on Mondays, which is considered to be Lord Shiva's Day, and they do not have non-veg nor drink alcohol through out the Shrawan.

Benefits of doing fast (vrat) on Sawan Monday (Shrawan Somwar):

The fast on Shrawan Mondays, widely known as Shrawan Somwar or 16 Somwar vrat as the Shrawan month consists 16 weeks, in the Indian subcontinent, is performed by the pious people in the belief that they will be blessed and all their mistakes would be forgiven by the Lord, thus they will be saved from the Hell's suffering.

Many Indian Girls perform this ritual of fasting in Shrawan for continuous 16-Mondays to get blessed with a good life partner because in the Hindu mythology Lord Shiv portrays the ideal husband character, who loves his life partner Devi Parvati very intensely and Devi Parvati is in the half part of Lord Shiv (Ardhanarishvara), whose presence completes him .Those who are married also have this fast to keep their married life happy and prosperous and also to get blessed with children. Its a age old belief which hangs in the air of the cultural nation India.

According to the Hindu mythologies, Shrawan is also associated with Samundra manthan (churning of the ocean), in which the Gods and the Demons swirled the ocean and a pot of poison emerged from the manthan which had the power to consume the entire Universe, as mentioned in the ancient Hindu manuscripts and texts🌌. It further elaborates, Lord Shiv drank the whole pot of poison and stored it in his throat which saved the life of every living creature on universe. Due to this act, to show gratitude to the Lord, every year Kanwar yatra takes place and many devotees bring the Gangajal (water from the sacred Indian river Ganges) and pour on him (the Shiv Linga) to help him heal from the pain caused by the poison.

The Science Behind Fasting:

The month of Shrawan is the peek point where the weather changes exorbitantly, which brings lot of diseases for the people of Indian subcontinent. So having a proper veg diet keeps the body fit and safe from the prone illnesses. Fasting also remove the toxins from the body naturally. Moreover, during these months one keeps an eye on the diet which helps to make one conscious towards the body.

Chaturmas, a month in the Shrawan season according to the Hindu Calender, is believed to be the time in which Lord Vishnu go into the state of meditation, so marriages usually is not scheduled in these months. Thus, people have fasting to devote their prayer to Lord Vishnu too.

During Shrawan Somwar devotees by performing Kanwar Yatra, Amarnath Yatra, fasting, go into the state of cleansing their mind and soul. It helps them to increase their penance, Dhyana (meditation) and austerities.

“Fasting of the Body is the Food for your Soul”

How Amarnath Temple came into existence?

It is believed that Amarnath is one of the 51 Shakti peethas, which is the commemorate location of the fallen parts of the body of Hindu deity Devi Sati, who Aatma Daahn (self-immolated) herself in her father's yagna (offering) because her husband was not invited in the occasion and when she questioned this action of her father, he replied with many cursed words aimed to her husband. She being a Pati Vrata (devoted to husband) could not bear her father insulting her husband (Lord Shiv) and left her body in the fire through which she is connected to her family.

Post this Lord Shiv lost his temper and killed Ajj (father of Devi Sati) and took the fallen body parts of his wife and started to roam for years in the whole Universe 🌌 in the pain of lossing his beloved wife. At last Lord Vishnu, hurled his Sudarshan (discus) to dismember the corpse of Devi Sati into 51 parts, and one of them fell in Amarnath. Afterwards Devi Sati took the reincarnation in the form of Devi Parwati and Bholenath (other name of Lord Shiv) explained the secret of life and eternity to her at Amarnath.

Discovery of Amarnath Cave:

Many books have the reference of Amaranth history and its details.  For instance the Rajatarangini, Rajavalipataka. According to the legends, Bhrigu Muni discovered Amaranth first, which was submerged in the river along with the valley of Kashmir, which Kashyap muni drained with rivulets.

A wider population believe, Gadaria community were the first to discover Amarnath cave and saw first glimpse of Baba Barfani (Shiv linga). French Physican, Francois Bernerier, wrote a book "Travel in Mughal Empire" when he visited Emperor Aurangzeb during his Kashmir trip, he mentioned amaranth as "Grotto" in his book.

Afterwards thousand of people started visiting the temple, and the cave become a well-known pilgrimage shrine for the Hindus.

Route of Amarnath Yatra:

When the Ice stalagmite, Shiv lingam, start reaching its waxing apex phase(130 feet), devotees start to visit the shrine. This usually occurs in between June to August. Devotees reach Kashmir by train and then take buses or taxis to reach the base camp at Pahalgam (land of shepherds) also known as Bail Gaon (where Lord Shiv left nandhi, his bull). The journey begins with 43 km long trekking in the mountains from Nunwan and Chandanwari (place where Lord Shiv removed the moon from his hair). They do night halts at Sheshnag Lake (place where shiv released his snakes) and Panchtarni camps, and finally the devotees reach the shrine. At Pahalgam, the devotees arrange for coolies or ponies to carry gear of food and clothes etc. for the journey. The journey to the Shrine from Pahalgam usually takes 5 days.

Short route which start from Baltal and goes through Domel, Barari, and Sangam to reach the cave is  of 16 km long roue but is very steep gradient and problematic to climb. In this route you will see the Amarnath valley and Amaravati, which is a tributary to Chenab river which originates from Amarnath glacier.

There are some other places to visit en route Amarnath, like Mahagunas Parvat (Mahaganesh Mountain) where Lord Shiv left his Son Ganesha and Panjtarni (6 km from Amarnath cave ) where Lord Shiv left all the five elements (Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Sky), portraying the same phenomenon of leaving the world and then at last Lord Shiv entered the Amarnath temple with Devi Parwati.

In the route you will see many organizations, people and other agencies offering services to the pilgrims like food, clothes and other aids. They do make pandals (tent) for the devotees to rest, which are free or can also be hired for one night, there are also helicopter services which can be taken from Panjtani operated by private operators.

Many Accidents also do occur in the route, in the near past many people have lost their life while climbing or due to road accidents, or natural calamites. Many armed forces are also assigned in the route to save the shrine from terrorist attack. The yatra is funded and managed by the government in collaboration with the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). Many other facilities like ponies, people carrying others, small shops for goods and water supply are managed by them.

Environmentalists have expressed various concerns sighting the huge number of people participating in Amarnath Yatra is causing  a negative impact on the area's ecology. The Government of India restricts travelers or pilgrims only on the basis of logistics, social situation between Kashmir and India and the time window for the yatra and weather in Shrawan month,

“Yatra is a journey of salvation, Troubles in path are the learning and witnessing God's Shrine is meditation ”

Amarnath Cave

Cave is surrounded by snowy mountains, The Height of the cave is 40 m (140 ft.), inside which the stalagmite “Baba Barfani” is formed due to the freezing of water droplet which fall from the roof of the Amarnath cave at the ground and this process keeps on going until there is a vertical floor formed till the roof of the cave, this majestic formation is called “Shiv Linga”. Amidst the months of  May to August, when the ice from the ice caped mountains of Himalayas melts and their droplet start falling from above the cave, the stalagmite is visible.

Many People believe that the Shiv lingam, grows highest and shrink along the phases of the moon as it goes till the end of Shrawan, Devotees come, visit the shrine and pray the Lord to grant their wishes. There is a message passed from generations in India, those who visit Amarnath once in a lifetime, they will never again born as Human on this earth, their soul is blessed with Salvation, and they leave this illusionary world.

Many Yogi practice meditation near the temple, Priest do the Aarthi (worship) everyday in the morning 4 am and in the evening. People from across the world come visit the shrine.

This year, Yatra is cancelled, so here we are providing the video for our readers.

Conclusion:

The god resides in us. If one Human can help another Human then God does not need to reincarnate himself on earth. According to ancient text God may exist on those places where people travel to find them, but please remember after you return from this trip, keep the peace of mind that you have found at and during the trip to the Amarnath temple and practice it in the life. Keeping aside all religious beliefs, the sight of the magnificent creation by nature is worth a visit.