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| Origin of Shri Amarnath Yatra | | MINCING NO WORDS | |
NEHA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 17: The origin of Shri Amarnath Yatra is not shrouded in mystery. There are authentic sources which clearly suggest that Yatra to the Holy Cave of Shri Amarnath started in ancient times. Hence, it would not be out of place to make a brief reference here to what the noted researcher on the historiography of Amarnath cave, M.M. Munshi, wrote recently about the Amarnath pilgrimage, as also what the website Wikepedia tells about the origin/history of the Amarnath pilgrimage. A reference to what Munshi wrote and what Wikepedia tells has become imperative in the sense that whatever he wrote and the website told is based on authentic sources and the same can be corroborated without any difficulty.
Munshi, among several other significant things, including routes of the Amarnath pilgrimage, writes: “According Bhrngish Samhita, the Mahakala approached the ‘devtas’ and told them that they would have to die. The devtas were troubled at this threat and proceeded to the abode of Swami Surji (Lord Shiva) and (sought) his protection. Shiva appeared to them with bright countenance…and enquired about the cause of their distress. The devtas explained that Mahakala was about to destroy them and (that) they dreaded his power upon which Shiva with his great mercy and kindness bestowed upon them the water of immortality by which the ‘devtas’ were freed from the persecution of Mahakala. After the devtas left, Shiva resumed his devotional abstractions and when he was again sought by the devtas they could not see him. They were, therefore, in great distress and lifted their hands in prayer and entreated him to show Himself. Shiva appeared in the form of ice linga and, hence, began the pilgrimage (to) and prayers at Amreshvara”.
According to Munshi, “the other view pertaining to the formation of ice linga is that Shiva’s consort Parvati was eager to learn the secrets of life and immortality. She prayed to her lord to reveal the same to her. While moving with Parvati over the Himalayas, Shiva rested in a cave and revealed the secrets of life to Parvati and got himself transformed into the ice linga. A pair of snow pigeons over-heard Shiva’s discourse and became immortal. According to Bhrngish Samhita, a person who bathes in the waters of Amur Veth (Amuravati) and rubs himself with the ashes gets Moksha. A person who performs Amarnath Ji yatra after observing ablutions along the traditional approach route gets the same boons as one gets from Ashvamedha Yagya...”
Munshi also doesn’t agree with the view that the pilgrimage remained suspended for years during the medieval period. He also repudiates the view that the cave was “rediscovered” by Maliks. His formulation is based on the fact that neither “Walter Lawrence”, the author of The Valley of Kashmir, nor any earlier traveller and author in Kashmir has mentioned about (the) ‘rediscovery’ of Amarnath Ji cave by Maliks”. He, however, concedes that “it is not difficult to conclude that Amarnath Ji cave could not have been lost during the short span of 50 to 125 years during which the yatra might not have seen the traditional pomp and show, and may have remained a low-key affair in view of the adverse political climate” in Kashmir.
As for the comprehensive article on the history of Amarnath pilgrimage, which is available with website Wikepedia, it, like Munshi, says that those who assert that the Amarnath pilgrimage is a “recent” phenomena are blissfully ignorant and that they are simply “spreading the myth”. This article again is based on the above-referred to sources. It says that the “holy cave has been known to the people for centuries”, that “pilgrims continued to visit the holy Amarnath cave in the 12th century”, that “not only was the pilgrimage in vogue in Akbar’s time (16th century), but the phenomenon of waxing and waning the ice linga was also well-known” and that “the original name of the tirtha (pilgrimage), as given in the ancient texts, is, of course, Amareshwar”. So much so, it says that, according to the Jonaraja’s Zaina Rajatarangini (vv. 1232-1234), the ruler of Kashmir, Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (1420-1470) “paid a visit to the sacred tirtha of Amarnath while constructing a canal on the left bank of the river Lidder” (and) “the canal is known as Shah Kol”.
All this should help in clinching the controversy over the origin of Amarnath pilgrimage and establish that the same has been going on uninterrupted since ancient times “along the traditional route of the Lidder Valley”. Even otherwise, it is an established fact that the Amareshwara tradition has all along remained very strong in Kashmir. The Kashmiri folklore and literature, including stories, further prove this point.
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