Pilgrimage to Amarnath

June 21, 2006

Om Namah Sivaya

Hindu Pilgrims in Kashmir Angered by Artificial Siva Lingam

in.news.

JAMMU, INDIA, June 19, 2006: Hindu pilgrims have sought action against authorities in Jammu and Kashmir for forming an artificial ice stalagmite for them to worship after it failed to occur naturally at a Himalayan shrine. The sleight of hand was discovered last week when the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath, a cave shrine deep in the mountains in the region, began after being delayed by heavy rains and snowfall. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus trek along a treacherous mountain path to worship an ice stalagmite in the cave, a symbol of Lord Shiva. But this year, authorities had to form an artificial stalagmite from snow as the natural ice formation failed to show up in time for the start of the pilgrimage, Arun Kumar, head of the state-run Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board which administers the shrine, told Reuters. "Those who committed this sin should be punished as they were responsible for hurting our religious sentiments," Ram Mahajan, head of Dharam Prachar Ma ndal, a Hindu

group in northern India, was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper. Although the size of the stalagmite has varied in previous years depending on the amount of weather, its non-formation this year was a bad omen, some pilgrims said. Last year, a record 400,000 pilgrims visited the shrine, located at an altitude of 12,700 feet.

A picture of the cave is available http://www.amarnathyatra.org/, clearly showing no Sivalingam formed this year due to unusual weather.

Stranded Amarnath Devotees May Abandon Pilgrimage

www.ndtv.com

JAMMU, INDIA, June 18, 2006: Bad weather has forced organizers to stall the Amarnath yatra (pilgrimage), and many say, with time running out and low budgets, they may just have to give the visit to the Amarnath shrine a miss. It's taken Narain Singh and Baya Lal, the two best of friends, two-and-a-half months to walk to Jammu from Madhya Pradesh on the Amarnath yatra. Seventy-year-old Narain Singh and 72-year-old Baya Lal are now determined to walk it all the way to the holy cave. But for the past seven days they've been stuck in Jammu as they have not been allowed to proceed for security reasons. "They are not allowing us to go on foot, they have stopped us, now we are going on the bus. They are not allowing us to even go on a bus? They are saying no, the yatra has been stopped," said Narain Singh, Pilgrim. But they aren't the only ones stuck in Jammu. Hundreds of yatris have been left stranded, waiting literally, for some good news. "The problem is that of the food and

every thing is costly here. It's beyond our budget. We have come according to our budget. They said there is a community kitchen here as well. But so far they are not allowing us to go there," said Raj Kumar Yadav, Pilgrim. The annual yatra was flagged off from Jammu a week back but bad weather has already crippled it. And now time is running out for many of the yatris. Neelam's family is yet another one that has come from Delhi with tickets for their return booked in advance, and they can afford to wait only for a couple of days. "Our reservation ticket is for 26th. If we are not able to go for Amarnath, we will go to Vaishno Devi instead," she said. "We can wait for another couple of days, not more than that." Jammu is not the main base camp for the yatra this year, but slowly and surely the number of stranded pilgrims in Jammu is growing. And the main worry for the pilgrims is that they might have to go back without actually performing the darshan of the holy cave.

Sivaya Namah

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