The Legend

There is famous Rigvedic Verse that says "Ekam Sat " that is "There is one Being, the sages call him
by many names." The God !armesh"ar# has three deities "ho carry on the "orld .This is $no"n
as %oly Trinity. Brahma& the creator, Vishnu & the 'er'etuator of life and Shiva (ahesh # &the 'urifier
and 'er'etuator of good and destroyer of evil. Rig Veda refer Shiva as Rudra as in its follo"ing verse
. ")e )orshi' Tryambaka Rudra# , )ho s'read *ragrance and +ncreases ,ourishment , (ay %e
release me, like the cucumber from its stem, *rom (ortal -ife, But not *rom +mmorality. "Rig Veda
(andal V++ Sukta ./ and (antra 01#
The 2a3urveda describes Shiva as ascetic "arrior )hose robe is of 4eer Skin and he carries
Trishul.
5ccording to the verse Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram the life is described as having three facets Truth
Satyam#, Good Shivam# and the Beautiful Sundaram#.
Shiva is a living God. The most Sacred and ancient books of +ndia, the Rig Veda narrates his
'resence in the hymns. Vedic myths, rituals and even astronomy testifies to %is e6istence from the
da"n of time. The (ohin3odaro and %ara''a findings confirm Shiva "orshi' in the ancient +ndia.
5ccording to the older scri'tures, %e has three 'laces of his residence. 7ne is $ailash !arvat
another is -ohit Giri under "hich Braham'utra flo"s and third is (u8"an !arvat.
The Amarnath Cave has special significance .
The -egend about the im'ortance of 5marnath 9ave is as follo"s :&
This is The 9ave "hich "as chosen by Bhole Shankar for narrating the secrets of immortality
and creation of ;niverse to (aa !arvati 3i. The story goes like this. 9enturies ago (aa !arvati asked
Shiv 3i to let her kno" "hy and "hen he started "earing the beads of heads (und (ala#. Bhole
Shankar re'lied "hen ever you are born + add one more head in my beads. (aa !arvati said, " (y
-ord, my body is destroyed every time and + die again and again, but you are +mmortal. !lease let
me kno" the secret of this ." Bhole Shankar re'lied that it is due to 5mar $atha ."
(aa !arvati insisted that she may be told that secret. *or long Shiva 3i continued 'ost'oning .
*inally on consistent demand from (aa !arvati he made u' his mind to tell the immortal secret . %e
started for lonely 'lace "here no living being could listen it. %e choose 5marnath 9ave. +n
're'aration to that he left his ,andi The Bull "hich he used to ride # at !ahalgam Bail gaon#. 5t
9handan"ari he released (oon from his hairs <ataon#. 5t the banks of -ake Sheshnag he released
the snakes. %e decided to leave his son Ganesha at (ahagunas !arvat (ahaganesh %ill #. 5t
!anchtarni, Shiv3i left the *ive Elements behind Earth , )ater, 5ir , *ire and Sky# "hich make living
being. %e is the -ord of these elements. +t is believed that as a symbol of sacrificing the earthly
"orld, Shiva3i and (aa !arvati had Tandav 4ance. 5fter leaving behind all these, Bhole Shankar
enters the %oly 5marnath 9ave along "ith !arvati (aa. -ord Shiva takes his Samadhi on the 4eer
Skin and concentrate . To ensure that no living being is able to hear the +mmortal Tale, %e created
Rudra named $alagni and ordered him to s'read fire to eliminate every living thing in and around the
%oly 9ave. 5fter this he started narrating the secret of immortality to (aa !arvati. But as a matter of
chance one egg "hich "as lying beneath the 4eer skin remained 'rotected. +t is believed to be non
living and more over it "as 'rotected by Shiva &!arvati 5san Bed#. The 'air of 'igeons "hich "ere
born out of this egg became immortal having listened the secret of immortality 5mar $atha#.
(any 'ilgrims re'ort seeing the 'air of 'igeons "hen they trek the arduous route to 'ay their
obeisance before the +ce&-ingam the 'hallic symbol of Shiva#.
Discovery of Holy Cave
The story narrated by 'eo'le about the discovery of this %oly 9ave is of a Gu33ar she'herd# Buta
(alik . %e is given the credit of discovering this %oly 9ave. Story goes like this, that a saint gave
Buta (alik a bag full of 9oal. 7n reaching his home "hen he o'ened the bag , to his utter sur'rise
the bag "as full of gold coins. This made him over"elmed "ith 3oy. %e ran to thank the Saint. But,
"hat he found "as that the Saint had disa''eared. +nstead, he found The %oly 9ave and Shiv
-ingam in there. %e announced the discovery of this to the Villagers. Then on"ards this has become
the sacred 'lace of !ilgrimage .
The ancient e'ics narrate an other story "hich goes like this. The valley of $ashmir "as under
"ater. +t "as a big lake. $ashya' Rishi drained the "ater through number of rivers and rivulets . +n
those days Bhrigu Rishi came that "ay on a visit to The %imalyas. %e "as the first to have 4arshans
of this %oly 9ave. )hen 'eo'le heard of the -ingam, 5marnath for them became Shiva=s abode and
a 9entre of 'ilgrimage. Since then -acs of devotees 'erform the 'ilgrimage through tough terrain
and avail eternal ha''iness.
The trek to 5marnath, in the month of sharavan <uly>5ugust# has the devout flock to this incredible
shrine, "here the image of Shiva, in the form of a -ingam, is formed naturally of an +ce Stalagmite,
"hich "a6es and "anes "ith the (oon?s cycle. By its side are fascinating, t"o more +ce -ingams,
that of (aa !arvati and of their son, Ganesha .