A perennial miracle in the Himalayas

Few of the present generation of Indians know that Swami Vivekananda, accompanied by a couple of his European disciples, undertook a Yatra (Pilgrimage) to the Amarnath Shrine (located in Jammu and Kashmir) from July 28 to August 8, 1898.

Sister Nivedita, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, has left a brief but beautiful account of the journey, which shows how significant this Yatra was from the point of view of culture and national integration.

She said, “Never had Swami felt such a spiritual exaltation. So saturated he had become with the presence of the Great God that for days he would speak of nothing else. Shiva was all in all; Shiva, the eternal one, the great monk, rapt in meditation, aloof from the world.”

Later, Swami Vivekananda recounted, “I thought the ice-lingam was Shiva Himself. There were no thievish Brahmins, no trade, nothing wrong. It was all worship. I have never seen anything so beautiful, so inspiring, and enjoyed any religious place so much.”

In August 1986, when I was Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, I travelled on foot from Chandanwari to the Cave, taking the same route, which was one of the most enchanting and enthralling routes in the world.

It transmitted a feeling of being upward and divine. In a state of heightened sublimity and with his faith fully surcharged and the awe and majesty of the sights around him, the pilgrim perceives, with his mind’s eye, Lord Shiva sitting calmly underneath an imperishable canopy provided by the mount of immortality.

He conveys in hushed silence the message of inseparability of the processes of creation and destruction; of every beginning having an end, and every end having a beginning.

The Holy Cave is located in one of the purest and firmest peaks of the Himalayas, which, in the Hindu tradition, is a symbol of sublimity, serenity and strength.

There is a close relationship between these silvery mountains and Lord Shiva, which finds the best expression in the words of Shankara, who, overwhelmed by their physical and spiritual beauty, said, “Oh Shiva, Thy body is white, white is Thy smile, the human skull in Thy hand is white. Thy axe, Thy bull, Thy earring are white. The Ganga flowing out in foams from your matted locks is white. The Crescent Moon on Thy brow is white. Oh All-White Shiva, give us the boon of sinlessness in our lives.”

The Cave is accessible only in July and August when a pure white Ice Lingam emerges. Water trickles, somewhat mysteriously, in slow rhythm, from the top of the Cave and freezes into ice. It first forms a solid base on which the Lingam begins to rise, almost imperceptibly, and acquires the full form on Purnima.

It is believed that on that day, Lord Shiva revealed the secrets of life to his consort Parvathi, the beautiful daughter of the Himalayas.

It is also believed that while Lord Shiva was speaking to her, a pair of pigeons appeared and overheard the talk. This pair still comes to the Cave at the time of the Yatra as incarnation of Shiva and Parvathi.

The most captivating spot on the route is the lake of Seshnag, symbolising the cosmic ocean in which Lord Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe, moves, reclining on a seven-headed mythical snake.

After being refreshed with the waters of Seshnag, the pilgrim climbs to the most difficult spot called ‘Mahagunna,’ (4350 meters).

Thereafter, a short descent begins with wild flowers. From there, the pilgrims move to ‘Panchtarni’, a confluence of five mythical streams, and then to the Cave.

A strange sense of fulfilment seizes the pilgrims, and all fatigue is forgotten.

The pilgrims, driven by faith, bathe in freezing rivulet of Amravati.

The significance of pilgrimage does not end at the personal level but extends to the larger issue of cultural unity and vision of India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kathiawar to Kamrup.

Jagmohan Malhotra is a former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and a former Minister for Tourism and Culture in the Atal Behari Vajpayee’s cabinet. The above article was sent to us by Harsh Gupta, a Chartered Accountant based in Wellington.