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| Did Buta Malik discover Amarnath Cave? | | Misinformation Campaign | | Rustam
Jammu, July 29: Ill-informed commentators and vested interests in Kashmir and outside have unleashed a relentless campaign to make people believe that the Amarnath Yatra was not in vogue during ancient and medieval times and it is just a 150-year-old phenomenon. Even the other day, a fanatic and critic of increase in the number of yatris said, "As facts stand testimony that the Amarnath yatra is barely a 150 year old tradition. Day in and day out, we are told that during the priod of Dogra king Gulab Singh, a Gujjar Muslim Buta Malik had accidentally discovered the holy shrine". The vested interests intensified the misinformation campaign in 2008, when Jammu rose in revolt against the Kashmiri leadership, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and the Government of India. The reason was that the Congress-led state government withdrew the order under which a small piece of land at Baltal (Kashmir) had been diverted to the Shrine Board for the use of the Amarnath yatris.
There are people who say that the origin of pilgrimage to the holy cave of Shri Amarnath is shrouded in mystery. A section has been seeking to clinch the controversy by saying that the "cave was lost for a very long time…till it was 'rediscovered' in 1775". There are others who say that the cave was "rediscovered in 1600". There is also a section which has only recently claimed that it was "discovered" in 1860 by a shepherd, named Juma Malik, as also Aadam Malik and Buta Malik, of village Batakot in the Pahalgam area of Kashmir. This section, which basically consists of some Kashmir-based prominent political leaders and commentators, has created an impression that it was none other than Juma Malik who "discovered" the cave, "when during his peregrination, with his flocks in the mountains, he accidentally came upon it". The view of the Kashmiri politicians and column writers is based on the premise that since the progeny of Juma Malik used to get substantial share of annual offerings at the Amarnath cave, it could be legitimately claimed that the holy cave was "discovered" by Juma Malik. (After the establishment of the SASB in 2001, the practice of giving share out of the annual offerings to the Maliks and others, including the Pandits of Ganeshbal, was abandoned.)
It is difficult to endorse the view, which was given ample publicity by the Kashmir-based print media, as also by a section of the Delhi-based print media and a few leading private TV channels during the 64-day-long (June 28 to August 31, 2008) agitation in Jammu over the Amarnath land controversy. The reasons are not far to seek. The most important reason obviously is that this view is not based on some authentic and reliable source. It appears to be a mere conjecture when viewed in the context of the available original sources containing detailed information on the origin/history and routes of the pilgrimage. A peep into such historical sources clears all the cobwebs of confusion and establishes that the origin of the pilgrimage to the holy cave of Amarnath is not shrouded in mystery.
There are a number of ancient texts, historical chronicles and research works which throw ample light on the history/origin of the Amarnath pilgrimage. Some of the most relevant ancient texts, historical chronicles and research works are: Nilmata Purana, which was written in the 6th century; Bhringish Samhita and Amarnatha Mahamatya, which were said to be composed even before the 6th century; Kalhana's seminal historical work Rajtarangini, written during 1148-49; Jonaraja's Zaina Rajtarangini and Suka's Rajtarangini and Pragyabhatta's Rajavali Pitaka; Abul Fazal's Ain-i-Akbbari (Vol. III); French physician Francois Bernier's Travels in Mughal Empire; Charles Ellison Bates's A Gazetteer of Kashmir; Moorcraft William's and George Trebeck's Travels in the Himalayan provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab, in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara; Ved Kumari's Nilmata Purana, Vol. I; and N.K. Zutshi's Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin of Kashmir. It needs to be underlined that while the Kalhana's Rajtarangini covers the period up to 1149, the works of Jonaraja, Suka and Pragyabhatta covers the period up to 1596.
All these works suggest that the pilgrimage to the cave of Amareshwar or Amarnath started during ancient times and that it was one of the well-known pilgrimage places in India, which was visited not only by the Hindus of Kashmir, but also from across the country. All this should help clinch the controversy and establish that the yatra 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. Will the ill-informed commentator and vested interests look all these facts in the face and stop misinformation campaign they have launched to mislead people.
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