High in the Himalayas of Kashmir, at an altitude of some 3,880 metres, the Amarnath cave shelters one of the most revered natural shrines of Lord Shiva — a lingam of ice that forms and melts with the waxing and waning of the moon, worshipped as a self-manifested (swayambhu) icon of the Lord. Legend holds that it was in this secret cave that Shiva revealed to Parvati the Amar Katha, the secret of immortality; a pair of doves said to have overheard it is still glimpsed by pilgrims.
Reached only by an arduous trek from Pahalgam or Baltal during the brief summer, the Amarnath Yatra draws hundreds of thousands of devotees who climb through the mountains for darshan of the ice lingam. Amid snow and stone, Amarnath is among the most awe-inspiring of all the abodes of Shiva.
The ice formation at Amarnath grows and shrinks with the moon, thickening towards the full moon of Shravan and receding after it.
Source: Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board
