Amarnath— Mahadev’s Abode
Some things happen only when they are destined to happen. My first ever visit to Shiva’s abode in the mountains high up in the Himalayas of Kashmir, happened only a week back — on 3rd of Aug 2022.
Shiva and his consort Parvati, live in the Himalayas. Legend has it that Shiva related to Parvati the secret of creation in the Amarnath cave. At that very time, a pair of pigeons was in the earshot and they overheard the conversation. Having learned the secret, the couple is reborn again and again, and have made this cave their eternal abode. I did look out for them too and found them fluttering in and out of the cave.
The pilgrimage to Amarnath takes place in the month of Shravan (July — August), when the shrine is accessible to people. At an altitude of about 13000 ft, Mount Amarnath is cut off from rest of the country for most part of the year, due to deep snow and freezing temperatures. Pilgrims during these two months trek to the shrine to pay their obeisance to the Lingam — a naturally formed stalagmite, along with two more ice lingams, that of Parvati and of their son, Ganesha. The shrine of Amarnath could not exist in a grander setting. The vastness of the sloping valleys around it, tall mountain peaks touching the blue skies, with glaciers caressing them all through the year. Mahadev has chosen a befitting home for himself!
Anyone wanting to visit the cave, has several options to choose from. One can trek or go on horseback or in a palki. One can further cut down on the time taken, by taking a chopper for a large part of the journey. There are two routes to visit Amarnath — through Baltal near Sonamarg or through Chandanwari near Pahalgam. From Baltal, it is a 14 km trek to the shrine, while from Chandanwari it is 32 km. The chopper flies from Srinagar, Baltal and Pahalgam, and drops you at Panchtarni , which is 6 km from the shrine. From Panchtarni, you either trek or take a pony/palki.
I have trekked on more difficult terrains before, however, always in a group with professional trek organizers. This time, I was on a solo trip to Amarnath. I decided to go for a blended journey of the entire circuit from one end to another. I took an early morning flight to Srinagar, from where I drove down straight to the helipad at Neelgrath which is between Sonamarg and Baltal. I had pre-booked my tickets online, so awaited my turn for the 7-min ride to Panchtarni, touching down at midday.
With a small backpack carrying a few essentials and a trekking pole, I immediately started the climb to the cave. It was a bright and sunny day, but with the mountains you never know. Just a fortnight back, in a freak cloudburst at the bottom of the shrine, many lives were lost. Many bodies still lay buried under the debris.
It was only that morning of 3rd Aug that I got to know that administration had announced to move forward the closing of the Yatra from the 11th to the 5th of Aug. So, there were very few Yatris around. There were very few takers for the ponies who were lined up with their owners soliciting the few pilgrims landing there. Most langars had wound up with the last few planning to do so in the next couple of days. Looked like I was just in time! The trail was available entirely to the few of us and not at all congested with ponies and people as I had seen in the videos just a few days back. This was comforting. I don’t like being jostled around while meeting God.
The trek is a uniform ascent which gets a little steep in between. From Sangam Top you get the first view of the Holy Cave from afar. This is the point where the trekking trails from Baltal and Chandanwari meet. You can see two lines of pilgrims on either side of the stream that flows in-between.
I walked the stretch without a break and was at the shrine in two hours. Luckily, there were no queues to suffer, so my darshan went off very well. Of course, being August, the Lingam had already melted away, but the divine aura of Mahadev was felt in every breath that I inhaled in His divine abode. The steps to the sanctum sanctorum are somewhat steep and I did finally have to take a breather before reaching the mouth of the Cave. Melting snow dripped from the ceiling of the Cave and streaked down the mountainside. This is where I finally quenched my thirst. Aqua Pura!
I offered my prayers and sought the blessings of the Supreme One. The priests were dressed in bright red and my guess would be that they probably hailed from Karnataka. A big Trishul stood next to the Mahadev’s seat. The head priest pointed out the seats of Parvati and Ganesha too, on either side of Mahadev.
I was back in Panchtarni by early evening. Panchtarni — at the feet of Mount Bhairav, is where five glacier-fed tributary streams meet, giving rise to the River Panchtarni. These five streams believed to flow from Lord Shiva’s Hair (Jata) represent the Five Elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Sky. The sun was setting slowly behind the snow-clad peaks rendering a golden hue to everything around. A nice cold breeze had started blowing. The Panchtarni Valley, at an altitude of around 12000 ft, is surrounded by snow-capped mountains on all sides. We camped for the night in the meadows on the banks of the river.
Being from Kashmir, got me a few favours unasked. I met a local family at Panchtarni, who since decades, have been associated with the Yatra. They own the entire stretch of this meadowland where they erect tents every year, to be let out to the pilgrims. This year too they had put up dozens of tents to accommodate the huge number of pilgrims, since this year the Yatra was being conducted after a two-year break. The father sold essentials like bread, soft drinks, batteries, woolens and so on to the pilgrims from a makeshift shop, while the son was in-charge of the accommodation. They had already spent two months up there, assisting with the arrangements, from June onwards and were now looking forward to going home in an Anantnag village, by mid Aug. They had started packing up most tents, as the crowds had really thinned out.
The warmth they extended to me knowing that I was a fellow Kashmiri and travelling alone, is hard to express in words. The whole experience left me deeply touched. They were kind enough to offer me the use of their biggish kitchen tent to sleep in, rather than put me up in a smaller or shared tented accommodation. Not only that, the young boy made cups of noon chai with sattu (roasted and ground rice-maize mix added to tea) for me, followed by a meal of potato curry and rice. Since, it was already late evening, it had started getting very cold. I had to pull out my jacket and scarf. “Didi, cze rath yi Kangir te kar vushnear, ba laagay chai” — the boy got a Kangri ready for me to keep me warm and lighted the gas stove to make tea.
I have never slept so comfortably in the freezing cold of the mountains as I did that night. Even the fear of bears, which I was told, often come down the mountain at the back, didn’t disturb my sleep.
Next morning, I had to leave for the longest part of my trip. Panchtarni to Chandanwari. I started early at 7am. I had to cover 25 km, latest by evening, as I had no plans to spend another night enroute to Chandanwari. Ideally, that would have been the ideal thing to do. The sole reason for returning via Chandanwari was to be able to see the Sheshnag Lake. And the only way to see it was to go on foot or on horseback. I alternated between the two. The most challenging part of the way back was the ascent to the Mahagunas (Maha Ganesh)Pass at 14500 ft.
Thereafter, an easy descent to the splendid and mesmerizing Sheshnag. As the name says, the mythical serpent Sheshnag is believed to reside inside this milky-blue lake. It’s also said that the lake gets its name from the seven snow-clad mountain peaks surrounding the lake. The lake has vast stretches of land in the front of it, ideal for a day or two of camping.
From Sheshnag it is a long winding flat trek to Pissu Top, and thereafter the final descent to Chandanwari. The legend has it that once there was a war between Devtas and Rakshasas. With the power of Shiva, Devtas managed to kill the Rakshasas in large numbers and it’s that heap of their dead bodies that resulted in this high mountain. Since I was descending from Pissu Top to Chandanwari, it did not seem very strenuous except the strain that the knees feel. However, if one has to climb up from Chandanwari, then this stretch would definitely be a challenging one.
The entire stretch is extremely beautiful, where the stream that flows out of Sheshnag follows you all along through pine-clad forests. The water gushes out of the lake noisily and after some distance falls down in a manner reminding you of Aharbal Falls.
Chandanwari is a quaint and picturesque village. I did not stop for long but was glad to have made it in time to reach Pahalgam for a late lunch. Shared cabs run from the taxi stand and take around 30 min to cover the 16 km distance. My trip didn’t end at Pahalgam. I had to reach Srinagar by evening as I had booked a place to stay there. Like a seasoned local, I hopped onto a shared cab to Anantnag, where I had to change and get another one to reach Srinagar by dusk.
I was in my hometown. Feeling immensely thankful, happy and blissful.
For any feedback or more info, you may write to me at namratawakhloo@gmail.com
