Essays

Conventionally, going on a pilgrimage is believed to present an ideal occasion for soul-searching. Blessed are the souls who have a chance to become pilgrims. The more arduous and long the journey, the greater the chance to reflect. A yatra is a good time—when the temporal and the timeless meet—to try and expand our understanding of our own selves and the Almighty. This is the spirit of the yearly pilgrimage to the hallowed precincts of the cave-shrine of Amarnath.

The Amarnath yatra's high point is the full moon day of Sravana (August). Detailed in the 12th century textofKalhana's "Rajatarangini", and later vividly described in Abul Fazl's "Ain-i-Akbari", the Amarnath Yatra has attracted sages and householders since time immemorial.

This year, more than lakh pilgrims, despite hazards, made the difficult trip to Amarnath to pray to the Shiva lingam that is completely of ice, deep inside Kashmir, in the dizzy heights of the Himalayas.

This is the spot where Shiva whispered the secret of the creation and dissolution of the universe to Parvati, and which secret was heard by a pair of pigeons who were still in the embryanic stage. Being in the know made the pigeons immortal after birth, and sighting them inAmarnath is considered to be auspicious.

Situated at a ramified height of 13,000 feet above sea level, the cave-shrine of Shiva houses an ice-lingam called stalagmite, waxing and waning with the lunar cycle, and which reaches its perfect stage on the full moon day of Sravana. On this spot Shiva is believed to have granted the boon of immortality to the gods, to be amar, hence the name Amarnath.

Swami Vivekananda got into a deep trance in Amarnath on the Sravana purnima day in 1898. Sister Nivedita, who was a witness to this episode, has given a touching account of this sensitive experience which had only added to the mystique of the yatra.

Vivekananda is said to have asked Shiva for a unique boon of 'death as desired'. According to some accounts, the cave-shrine was re-discovered some centuries ago by a gujjar shepherd, Buta Malik ofBalkote village, whosefamily is entitled to and receives one-third of the shrine offerings.

The mystical-philosophic significance of the pilgrimage is also brought out in an ancient Sanskrit text, the" "Bringesh Samhita" in which sage Bringesh is blessed by Shiva with a holy scepter for protection.

This is now being replicated with the "Chhari Mubarak", the holy trident, which is taken out on n procession from the Dashnami Akhara in Srinagar, marking, the start of the Amarnath yatra.

The cave-shrine in Amarnath is not strictly considered as being a part of the pantheon of the twelve Shiv;I jyotilingas in India. Still, Amarnath embodies and captures the essence of the Kashmir. Saivite tradition— also known as the Trika tradition—corresponding to the three status of Shiva, Shakti and Jiva, in which Shiva is worshipped as the transcendental one.

The Amarnath shrine occupies a central position, forming the hub of Kashmir's Saivite cosmology. This aspect has been expounded vividly byAbhinav in "Fifteen Verses of Wisdom" that places Shiva at the very core of pratibimbavada monism, as opposed to Sankara's Advaitic monism which denies a personal god.

When Mark Twain remarked that although there are 365 days in a year, India has 366 festivals, he wittingly put his finger on the pulse of Indian tradition.

For example, Sravana Purnima is also a time when Raksha Bandhan is celebrated reminding us to bond together, to use the chance to reflect and respond, to understand and relish not only the present but our rich heritage too.