Holy Himalayas. The highest peak in the world, Everest, is here. The entire area is called the Holy Land or Punya Bhoomi. It is a sacred duty for a Hindu to visit Amarnath, Kedarnath and Badrinath at least once in his life.
The distance from Jammu to Pahalgam is 363 Km. Pahalgam is 96 Km from Srinagar. From Jammu, the Holy Cave of Amarnath is about 410 km. From Pahalkam it is 47 kms.
Trekking in the Himalayas would be an amazing experience. As if walking in the sky, devotees often feel the divinity around them.
Amarnath means immortal. It is also the name of Shiva. The cave was found by a Muslim boy named Buta Malik about 400 years ago. One day, while grazing his cattle in the Himalayas, he met a sage. The wise man gave him a bowl full of charcoal. The boy took him home with him. When he got home at night, when he took the bowl, it was full of gold. He immediately returned in search of the sage. At that time he discovered the cave of Holy Amarnath. Even today, part of the offerings paid to Lord Shiva in the Amarnath cave by devotees go to the heirs of Buta Malik. This cave is a good example of Hindu-Muslim unity.
The ice formation inside the cave gradually grows into a very large Shiva Linga. On the full moon day the Lingam reaches its maximum height. The height of the Shiva Linga is approximately 24 feet from the day of the new moon to the day of the full moon.
Exactly on the full moon day two doves appear in the cave symbolizing Lord Shiva and His consort Parvathi, the daughter of the Himalayas.
The legend says so. When Shiva was revealing the secrets of the creation of the universe to Parvathi, a couple of pigeons appeared there and overheard the conversation. Every year on the same full moon day these two pigeons appear in the cave without fail.
Even a die-hard skeptic will be persuaded to believe that divine sports take place here every year. How could two pigeons appear on exactly the same full moon day in exactly the right place! And how is it possible that the ice reaches its maximum height on the day of the full moon and gradually shrinks, but never completely disappears?
The sacred cave is situated at a height of 12792 feet. The cave is a symbol of sublimity, serenity and strength. The length, width and height of this natural sacred cave is 60 feet, 30 feet and 15 feet respectively.
Coming south we have a Thirukazhukundram, 68 km from Chennai, where two holy eagles appear every day above the temple to worship Lord Shiva. A large number of visitors used to wait there to see this miraculous event every day. The two eagles used to go down to a rock where sweet rice is offered as food.
It is said that these two eagles were actually two risihis, namely Pusha and Vidhadha. After going around the sacred mountain, they used to approach the priest on foot. Rice balls are offered to the eagles. They eat the rice balls and, after cleaning their beaks in the water kept in a small container nearby, circle around the temple tower again and fly. Every day, day after day, the event repeats itself. This is happening for the last few centuries.
One has to see these things to believe. Hinduism lives from Cape Comorin to the great Himalayas. There are thousands of miracles happening every day even today in the Hindu land!