Guest guest Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Thousands of Hindu pilgrims faced disappointment on Monday after a large, sacred phallic-shaped icicle in a Himalayan cave melted -- leaving people blaming body heat or global warming. undreds of thousands of devotees make a long, tiring trek to the Kashmir mountains each year to look at the natural icy formation, worshipped as a symbol of the god of destruction, Shiva. But by Monday, just the second day of the two-month-long pilgrimage, the pilgrims only had a tiny stump of ice to look at -- compared to a 3.6-metre (12-foot) high formation that was there a few weeks ago. " The Shivlingam (Shiv phallus) has melted down completely, " Arun Kumar, a senior official of the pilgrimage board, told AFP. A variety of factors, from body heat to global warming, were cited as possible causes for its disappearance in the cave, located 3,800 metres (12,800 feet) above sea level. " Hot and humid weather, besides global warming, are responsible for the early melting, " said Kumar, without elaborating. The pilgrimage route to one of Hinduism's top religious sites is heavily guarded by Indian security forces to prevent possible attacks by rebels fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir. Local papers speculated that a glacier above the Amarnath cave was melting -- making the interior warmer -- in line with glacier retreat in the Himalayas linked to global warming. In previous years the ice form has remained in place until August, but last year the ice shrine failed to form at all -- officials controversially put an artificial one in its place -- while this year it melted two months early. A local geologist blamed the number of hot, sweaty bodies visiting the cave. " So many people are going inside. There used to be a few thousand, now there are scores of thousands, " said Mohammed Ismail Bhat. " It is a small space and they are repeatedly breathing warm air out. That is for sure going to affect the temperature. " The annual pilgrimage in insurgency-hit Kashmir draws hundreds of thousands of chanting devotees, who scramble up treacherous paths and brave the risk of Islamic militant attacks. Although the official start date was Sunday, many pilgrims have been staging the trek for the past two weeks. A leading Hindu cleric, Mahant Deependar Giri, blamed these early birds for heating up the cave. " Thousands of pilgrims visited the cave even before the official start of the pilgrimage, leading to the early meltdown, " said Giri. Those who have yet to make it to the cave said they were disappointed. " It's a big disappointment that the lingam has disappeared, " said Pamposh Kumar, a pilgrim who travelled all the way from New Delhi. " Still, we will trek to the cave shrine -- for Shiva will definitely reward us, " he said as he left Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar with his wife and daughter for one of two base camps set up for the trek. SOURCE: News. " Hindu devotees disappointed as sacred icicle melts " by Izhar Wani (AFP) URL: <http://news./s/afp/20070702/wl_sthasia_afp/indiakashmirhindu climatewarming_070702123858> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 " Still, we will trek to the cave shrine -- for Shiva will definitely reward us, " he said as he left Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar with his wife and daughter for one of two base camps set up for the trek. I think this guy has the spirit of the thing. The divine is everywhere and sees your intent. Perhaps not focussed on the end, they will see the divinity all along the way. namaste pr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 , " prainbow61 " <paulie- rainbow wrote: > > " Still, we will trek to the cave shrine -- for Shiva will definitely > reward us, " he said as he left Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar with > his wife and daughter for one of two base camps set up for the trek. > > > > I think this guy has the spirit of the thing. The divine is everywhere and sees your intent. > Perhaps not focussed on the end, they will see the divinity all along the way. > > namaste > > pr > Size doesn't matter Namaste, ZN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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