Amarnath Yatra

Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir. The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), reached through Pahalgam town. The shrine represents an important part of Hinduism. The cave, located in Lidder Valley, is surrounded by glaciers, and snowy mountains and is covered with snow most of the year, except for a short period of time in summer when it is open to pilgrims. In 1989, pilgrims numbered between 12,000 and 30,000. In 2011, the numbers reached a peak, crossing 6.3 lakh (630,000) pilgrims. In 2018 pilgrims numbered 2.85 lakh (285,000). The annual pilgrimage has varied between 20 and 60 days. The Amarnath cave, the abode of the Mahamaya Shakti Peetha, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, temples throughout the Indian Subcontinent. Amarnath is a very important centre of pilgrimage, and though the route is as difficult to negotiate as it is exciting, every year, thousands of devotees come to pay homage to Lord Shiva in one of his famous Himalayan abodes. The trek to Amarnath has the devout flock to this incredible shrine, where the image of Lord Shiva, in the form of a Lingam is formed naturally of ice stalagmite, and which waxes and wanes with the moon. By its side are, fascinatingly, two more ice-lingams, that of Goddess Parvati and Ganesha.