AMARNATH YATRA Yatris entering the shrine TEXT: SHYAMOLA KHANNA t was the month of July and I was standing on the threshold, gazing at the deity of Shri Amarnathji inside the cave at 14,000 ft, cold, wet and not a little FINDING Ibewildered. And then the chants of “Har Har Mahadev!” rang out! I looked back and saw the band of Shiva worshippers calling out to their Lord, saffron bands around their heads and dressed in the barest CrowdsMY in front FAITH minimum, a loin cloth and another orange of the shrine bit draped around their shoulders – men, women and young adolescents all calling out with the same fervor! The ambient temperature would have been between five and six degrees centigrade and yet these people were not cold! So is this what the burning fire of faith was all about? While I watched, I also noticed that the people were generally in the age group of fifty and sixty. There were younger ones and definitely even older ones too—they 8 Miles to go before they sleep a lone sadhu trudges on were the ones who were clad in loads of again. By the time March comes around seeps back into the mountains and flows woolens, shawls, sweaters, caps and woolen and the first nargis (daffodil) starts out in places through the mountainside. socks (probably a couple of pairs!), in the flowering through the snow blankets, then Some of this water flows into Amarnath vanyaprastha or sanyas stages of life. you can start stepping out again. Slowly, the cave and over a period of two to three poppies and irises start to flower and entire weeks, forms an ice mound in the cave, due The Cave hillsides become covered in red, yellow and to the freezing of water drops that fall from When winter sets in the Jammu and blue. This is also the time when the snows the roof of the cave on to the cold floor and Kashmir valley, it brings with it a sense begin to melt in the upper reaches of the then grows up vertically from the cave floor. of peace and calm. All the pathways are Himalayas. The melting waters feed the This is the icy Lingam, the holiest of holies, covered in snow and people stay indoors, innumerable rivers and streams emanating that thousands come from all over India awaiting the thaw so that life can begin from the peaks. A lot of this melting water and the world to worship. To a disbeliever, People travelling by foot, horseback and palki to the shrine 9 Campsite on yatra route with Chilling with holy smoke a stream running through it Forty winks a holy dip in the ice-cold water at the sangam it is like any other stalagmite but to the believer, it is a manifestation of Shiva, the lovable God, the most easily pleased of the holy trinity of gods. Two other icy pillars represent Parvati and Shiva’s son, Ganesha and it is where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort, Parvati. This miraculous yearly phenomenon Palki-bearers taking a break at Amarnath cave has made it a place of worship since time immemorial. There are references to the legendary king Aryaraja (300 BCE) who used to worship a lingam formed of ice in Kashmir. The book Rajatarangini refers to Amareshwara or Amarnath. It is believed that Queen Suryamathi in the 11th century AD gifted trishuls, banalingas and other sacred emblems to this temple. Rajavalipataka, begun by Prjayabhatta, has detailed references to the pilgrimage to Amarnath Cave. One legend says Kashmir was submerged under water until the middle ages and people forgot about Amarnath until Kashyapa Muni drained it through 10 helping hand Last darshan Leaning on each other Soldiering on a helicopter hovers over the yatris a series of rivers and rivulets, after which, Bhrigu Muni was the first to have Darshan of Lord Amarnath and soon people began worshipping it again as Bholenath. By end June / early July the lingam is ready and the massive administrative machinery begins its operations to ensure that the yatra goes off without any hitch for the millions of devotees on their arduous trip to the holy Amarnath cave. That the trip is challenging is accepted fact. The ongoing terrorist activities in the valley for almost two decades have added helipad and campsite at Panchtarni 11 Sadhu selling rudraksh beads Crawling to meet his Lord Sadhu’s open-air tent Crippled legs no hindrance to devotion an element of fear to the backbreaking trip. pilgrims, they are quite blithe about it. “I shall attain moksha if I die at the feet One never knows when a sniper will take a of Lord Shiva. I am not afraid at all.” She potshot, whether the next bend in the road FaiTh ThaT MoveS MounTainS was not the only one. Seventy something will be the last. Not that it worries any of the Meena Ganguly, in her late fifties, says, Bhanwari Devi from Baghpat was quite at peace with herself. She admitted that she Long queue at had lived her life and if she were to die, she the entrance would be very relieved, as she had nothing more to look forward to. ‘Phir idhar maut hui toh swarag toh mil hi jayega’ (If I die here, I shall certainly go to heaven). Like all pilgrims in India, there are many who have promised to make the trip because of a prayer fulfilled—a son/ grandson born into the fold, the acquisition of certain wealth or prosperity, a son or daughter married and settled well, etc. Kalpana ben who had come all the way from Jamnagar in Gujarat, was one such who had changed at least three trains to get to the place and this last lap on the pony was hurting her knees. Yet she trundled up the last steps in the cold drizzle and waited for the darshan. She kept repeating ‘har har mahadev’ with every breath. In a rasping undertone, she told me she had come to Pilgrims registering 12 for the yatra Climbing the icy trail Pilgrims negotiating a steep bend The army keeps relentless vigil Man heating water barrel near campsite fulfill a ‘mannat’. Srinagar, while the Kargil war was on in the far east, from Jamnagar on the Gujarat Then there are those who hope their full swing, not too far away. My husband coast to the villages of Eastern UP not to wish will be granted by Lord Shiva once was responsible for the air operations and mention Indians and foreigners from across they have come to his temple. Shoma, a I spent my time watching the stars under a the world. What was it about the shrine young woman in her thirties had lost two clear blue night sky while the blackout was that brought on this vast outpouring of infants within the first year of their birth. enforced, waiting for my husband’s return. people? What generated this faith? How She had come walking the entire 14 km On the top of my wish list, before leaving come people did not mind the discomfort, length of the Baltal route, hoping that Lord the beleaguered valley, was the fervent the pain and hardship, the cold and the rain Shiva would grant her wish for a healthy desire to visit the Amarnath shrine. Not besides the imminent possibility of attack child. This is the kind of faith that moves because I am a devout Hindu, but I did by militants? mountains. It is the essence of Hinduism – want to see for myself what it was that that God, whatever his form, will take care brought people out from as far away as The ChoPPer ServiCe of all our problems. With the same faith, Chennai and Mudumalai in the south to I went in a helicopter with a wannabe I had stayed on at the Air Force Station, villages of Assam and Meghalaya from MLA and his wife and the wife of a senior Morning ablutions a nap on the roadside 13 Shiva devotee with his trishul Breaking dawn Selling saffron and shilajeet police officer posted in the valley. The going through their morning ablutions and down was being monitored very strictly. chopper gave us a fantastic view of the getting ready to return to Srinagar while The puja was performed and we were given mountains and then I saw the meandering fresh batches were coming up the hillsides. the prasad. I knew that it was the last time trail of the pilgrims, crawling along the No noise, no clamoring, just a peaceful that I was ever going to be there—for me Baltal route. The chopper landed at the morning at India’s holiest shrine. ‘Darshan’ this pilgrimage was very meaningful and I base of the cave, at a height of 12,756 ft, and done, ‘aarti’ enjoyed, ‘prasad’ collected, did want to linger for a while. we got out of our Perspex flying machine, time to return to the everyday and the Then I found one of the pundits pointing surrounded by snowy peaks on all sides. I mundane—enough punya to live out the to a white dove which was sitting in a saw this huge embankment of yellow and rest of one’s life! niche, high up on the roof of the cave. He blue tents—there must have been at least We walked up to the platform where the said that the other one, its partner, should 200 of them, close together.