Hinduism places a great deal of significance on Lord Shiva. Another name for Lord Shiva is Mahadev,. Baba Amarnath Temple is one of the many Shivalingas of Lord Shiva that exist on this planet. For a devotee, visiting Baba Amarnath’s cave is a special and significant experience. Each year, thousands of followers of Lord Shiva descend great distances and climb tall buildings to come to this place known as “Baba Amarnath Temple.” In addition to being a significant religious site, Baba Amarnath Temple is a special location that draws people in due to the miracles that occur there. The size of Lord Shiva’s Shivalinga is constantly growing and shrinking at the Baba Amarnath Temple in J&K.
The Baba Amarnath Temple is a significant religious site where followers come to see Lord Shiva. This temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is built like a cave. The Baba Amarnath Temple is open from July through August. Here, Shivalinga’s size is constantly changing, which is an incredible sight to behold.
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Baba Amarnath Temple
One of Lord Shiva’s many Shivalingas on earth is the one found in the Baba Amarnath Temple. We refer to the Shivalinga in the Amarnath cave as ‘Amareshwar’. One of the major Hindu pilgrimage sites, this cave is an ancient sacred site dedicated to Lord Shiva. In order to receive darshan of Lord Shiva’s exceptional and magnificent Shivalinga, devotees travel to this cave. This is an ice-based Shivalinga of Lord Shiva. These days, he is also referred to as “Baba Barfani” by many. The temple of Baba Amarnath is located within a cave. About 145 kilometers from Srinagar, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, this cave is situated in the Himalayan hills.
This cave is located approximately 3888 meters above sea level. This cave is approximately 90 feet long and 150 feet high. During the Baba Amarnath Yatra, there are two routes to get to the cave: the first is via Pahalgam, and the second is via Sonamarg Baltal. You must first travel to Pahalgam or Baltal, which can be reached from anywhere in the nation, and then you must walk from these locations to the Amarnath cave. According to the Hindu calendar, the pilgrimage to Amarnath Cave begins on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha and lasts the whole month of Shravan, which is Lord Shiva’s favorite month.
How does Shivalinga appear?
Numerous miracles have led to the emergence of Lord Shiva in the Shivalinga form. There are numerous Shivlingas that exist in independent form. The term “self-arising” refers to the fact that numerous manifestations of Lord Shiva, or Shivalingas, have evolved into being on Earth. In the Amarnath cave, Lord Shiva is also present in the form of Swayambhu. This is an ice-based Shivalinga of Lord Shiva. The Amarnath cave has a circumference of about 150 feet. Water continues to trickle from the top of the cave.
A spot in the center of the cave is where a falling drop of water forms a Shivalinga. This shivlinga can occasionally grow to a height of 20 to 22 feet. The water droplets that fall from the Amarnath cave solidify into ice as soon as they reach the center, while the water droplets that fall from other parts of the cave spread out as dry ice that melts into the air. In accordance with the phases of the moon, Shivalinga rises and falls.
Why does the size of Baba Amarnath’s Shivalinga keep increasing and decreasing?
The ice used to create this Shivalinga of Baba Amarnath appears and vanishes on its own. The ice in Shivalinga was created by water dripping from the Amarnath cave’s rocks. This ice shivling of Lord Shiva is modeled after the phases of the moon, which are 15 days of increasing size followed by 15 days of decreasing size. The size of this shivling likewise increases and decreases in accordance with these lunar cycles. By the full moon day of Shukla Paksha in the Shravan month, the size of this Shivalinga of Lord Shiva is complete, and it continues to decrease until the next new moon day.
Legend of Baba Amarnath Cave
Also Read: Why is Kashi Vishwanath Temple famous?
For devotees, visiting the Amarnath Cave is highly auspicious. The pilgrimage of pilgrimages is Amarnath. This cave is known as the Amarnath cave because it is thought that Lord Shiva revealed the secret of salvation and immortality to Mother Parvati there. Why did Lord Shiva pick this cave to reveal to Mother Parvati the key to eternal life? This is the mystery of the century. Since Lord Shiva wanted to tell Mother Parvati the secret of nectar and salvation, which was very private, he set out to find a place where no living thing was present, and he eventually found this cave.
Lord Shiva kept this secret so well that he abandoned his sons, his friends, and even his most devoted follower, Nandi. Lord Shiva had given up the five elements even before coming into this cave. It demonstrates how closely guarded this secret was when Lord Shiva, having sacrificed all these elements and his loved ones, picked this cave to reveal the secret of immortality and salvation to Mother Parvati. In order to maintain the balance of nature, Lord Shiva kept this secret hidden from everyone. If everyone knew about it, there would be an imbalance in the natural world.
In order to assure Mother Parvati of her salvation and reveal the secret to immortality, Lord Shiva entered this cave and made sure that no other animals were inside. “When I tell you this story, you keep roaring so that I can continue telling you the story,” Lord Shiva said to Mother Parvati prior to her hearing the tale. Goddess Parvati continued to roar as Lord Shiva began to listen to the story of Amritva. Even after Mother Parvati stopped roaring and went to sleep, Lord Shiva could still hear the sound of roaring.
After a while, Lord Shiva heard a roar and realized it was coming from someone else. He then discovered that Shuka, a bird, was living in the cave and that it continued to roar long after Mother Parvati had stopped. Had been. When Lord Shiva saw this, he rushed to murder Shuka the parrot. The parrot known as Sukh used Maya to hide in the womb of Maharishi Vedvyas’s wife because he had become very knowledgeable after hearing Lord Shiva’s account of immortality.
Surprisingly, it spent a full twelve years developing inside Maharishi Vedvyas’s wife’s womb. When Lord Vishnu saw this, he commanded the parrot Shuka to leave immediately. However, the bird refused to leave, claiming that your delusion had spread throughout the world. I refuse to be swayed by this false impression. Then Lord Vishnu assured him, saying, “When you come to this world, my illusion will not affect you even the slightest.” Then Sukh Parrot became ‘Shukdev,’ Maharishi Vedvyas’ unborn son.
Mythological history of Baba Amarnath cave
Mother Parvati had narrated the story of immortality to Lord Shiva in the cave of Baba Amarnath. After that, a sage saw this cave for the first time. There is a mythological belief that at one time the Kashmir Valley was completely submerged in water, which had taken the form of a huge lake. The water that had filled the valley was released by Sage Kashyap in the form of many rivers and small water sources to solve the problem.
After this, Sage Bhrigu decided to travel to the Himalayan Mountains, so he set out on a journey there. During the visit of Sage Bhrigu, the water level in the Himalayan mountain range had fallen significantly. At the same time, Sage Bhrigu saw a Shivalinga covered with snow in the holy cave of Amarnath. Since then, this place has become famous as the center of devotion and worship for Lord Shiva.
amarnath temple history
It is still unknown how Baba Amarnath’s cave in the Kashmiri valleys was found. The discovery of Baba Amarnath’s cave is the subject of a well-known legend. Around the fifteenth century, a shepherd by the name of Buta Malik is credited with discovering the Amarnath cave. Buta Malik had traveled a great distance to graze his goats when he came across a saint. The saint gave him a Kangri that was filled with burning coal to keep him warm. When Buta Malik got home, he discovered that instead of the Kangri being full of coal, it was full of gold coins.
The store owner was ecstatic and taken aback. Buta saw Lord Shiva’s Shivalinga in the form of ice inside a cave when he returned to the same location to thank Malik Sadhu after this. When he returned, he informed his villagers of this. The villagers informed the then-king of this information, and ever since, Baba Amarnath’s cave has gained popularity as a destination for pilgrims.
Mysteries related to Baba Amarnath cave
It is a mystery in and of itself how Lord Shiva’s Shivalinga in Baba Amarnath’s cave transformed into an ice Shivalinga through the use of water droplets. This is where Lord Shiva’s Shivalinga forms and vanishes spontaneously.
The phases of the moon are connected to this ice Shivalinga of Lord Shiva. This Shivalinga grows larger and smaller in proportion to the moon’s size.
The Amarnath cave is surrounded by numerous other snow-covered cliffs and caverns. These rocks also leak water, but the water does not appear in the shape of a Shivalinga there.
In this cave, Lord Shiva had narrated the story of salvation and immortality to Mother Parvati. He chose this cave because he wanted no one else to hear this story. However, another legend claims that there were pigeon eggs under the deer’s skin. A pair of pigeons were born from these eggs, which became immortal after listening to the immortal story of Lord Shiva. When you go on Amarnath Yatra, you can see a pair of pigeons in that cave. The fact that it only takes two months to visit this cave is amazing. Due to this the area becomes extremely cold, but even now whoever goes to this cave always finds two pigeons alive.
Importance of darshan of Baba Amarnath
One attains salvation by seeing the Shivalinga of Baba Amarnath. This pilgrimage in the Kashmir Valley is called the “Pilgrimage of Pilgrimages” because it was in this cave that Lord Shiva narrated the story of salvation and immortality to Mother Parvati. Lord Shiva lived in this cave and performed penance for many years. Lord Shiva has named Mount Kailash, Amarnath, Kedarnath, Kashi, and Pashupatinath as holy and important sites. It is believed that pilgrims who visit Amarnath Cave attain salvation and get rid of the fear of dying.
How to reach Baba Amarnath for darshan
Due to its location in the Kashmiri valleys, Baba Amarnath’s cave is extremely difficult to visit. The Amarnath cave is accessible only by foot for devotees from Pahalgam or Baltal in Kashmir. You must first travel to Pahalgam or Baltal by train, car, or other means before you can visit Amarnath Cave. You can take a helicopter or walk the remaining distance to the cave from this point. The majority of devotees walk the entire way.
From Pahalgam to Amarnath Cave
on foot
The starting point for visiting Amarnath Cave is Pahalgam. Pahalgam is roughly 47 kilometers away from the Amarnath cave. Once you pass the base camp, you will see the Amarnath Cave and have four stops on your foot route to it. Chandanwari, which is 16 kilometers from Pahalgam Base Camp, will be the first stop. The journey then becomes difficult after this. Pissu Top, which is three kilometers from Chandanwadi, will be the next stop. Following this, you arrive at Sheshnag, the next stop, which is nine kilometers from Pissu Top. Panchtarni, which is 14 kilometers away, comes after Sheshnag. From Panchtarni, you will walk an additional 6 km to reach Amarnath caves.
helicopter
Pilgrims can travel by helicopter from Pahalgam to Panchtarini. After this, one can travel to the cave from here on pony/palanquin or on foot.
Baltal to Amarnath
on foot
The base camp to visit Amarnath cave is Baltal, which is 14 kilometers away from Amarnath cave. This route is very challenging due to high roads and steep climb. After walking 2 kilometers further from Baltal Base Camp, the first stop is Domel. After going 5 kilometers further from Domel, the second stop is Barari Marg. Sangam is the next stop after covering a distance of about 4 kilometers on the Barari route. After covering a distance of about 3 kilometers from Sangam, you will reach Amarnath cave.
helicopter
Pilgrims can reach Panchtarni by helicopter from Baltal Base Camp. This is the fastest and very best way to reach Amarnath cave from Baltal. The cave remains only 6 kilometers away from Panchtarni. To reach the cave from Panchtarni, you can either walk or ride a pony/palanquin.