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| Grill set up to protect Shivlingam at Amarnath | | | Early Times Reporter
Srinagar | June 18
A grill has been set up to slow down the melting of naturally-formed ice "Shivlingam" at the 3,880 metre high cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas.
"We have put in place a grill so that no pilgrim is able to touch the Shivlingam enshrined in the holy cave. This will hopefully help to slow down its melting," Amarnath Shrine Board Chief Executive Officer Arun Kumar said.
He said the grill would protect the ice lingam, the symbol of Lord Shiva, from being tampered with.
We hope the Shivlingam will last for a longer period this year and the devotees visiting the cave in the latter half of the yatra will also have its 'darshan' (glimpse)," Kumar told reporters yesterday.
Last year, a controversy had generated after devotees alleged that the Shivlingam in the cave has been tampered with.
Kumar said SASB wants to improve the facilities for the devotees visiting the holy cave shrine and had introduced water filter points and toilets that can be used by the elderly.
"We want to improve the facilities for the devotees and have taken a series of environment friendly measures," he said.
"We desire to provide better facilities to the devotees as compared to previous years, he said, adding the helicopter service will commence from today.
While four helicopters will operate between Baltal and the cave, two more will start operations from Srinagar, Kumar said. |
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