AMARNATH
YATRA - ART & CULTURE
News: Amarnath Yatra Suspended for 'Urgent
Repairs' After Number of Pilgrims Falls Dramatically
What's
in the news?
●
Amid a rapid decline in the footfall of
pilgrims and the complete melting of the ice Shiva Lingam in the cave shrine,
authorities in Kashmir have suspended the Amarnath Yatra reportedly due to
“urgent repairs” that have been taken up even as the annual pilgrimage is
officially still on.
Amarnath
Yatra:
●
Amarnath Yatra is an annual pilgrimage
visit to the Amarnath cave shrine of
Lord Shiva high up in the Himalayas.
What
happened there?
●
According to legend, when Lord Shiva
decided to tell Parvati the secret of his immortality
(Amar Katha), he chose the Amarnath cave deep in the Himalayas in South
Kashmir.
History:
●
According to lore, the cave was discovered
by a Muslim shepherd named Buta Malik in 1850. Malik was high up in the
mountains with his herd of animals, when a Sufi saint gave him a bagful of
coal.
●
After he returned home, Malik opened the
bag, and found it to be full of gold. The ecstatic and overwhelmed shepherd ran
to the mountains to thank the saint, but he could not find him.
●
What he found instead, was the cave and
its famous ice lingam.
Ice
Lingam:
●
The ice lingam, representing Lord Shiva,
is formed by a trickle of water from a cleft in the roof of the cave.
●
The water freezes as it drips, forming,
over time, a tall, smooth ice stalagmite. The Shiva lingam gets its full shape
in May every year, after which it begins to melt. By August, it is just a few
feet in height.
Location:
●
The cave is located at an altitude of
3,888 meters above sea level and is only accessible by foot or on a pony
through a steep path in Sonmarg in
Kashmir.
Security
threat:
●
The geographic location of the cave being
in South Kashmir makes it vulnerable to terror attacks from the Pakistan side.
Go
back to basics:
BRO:
●
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly
neighbouring countries.
●
The Border Roads Organisation works under
the Ministry of Defence.
●
Currently, the organisation maintains
operations in twenty-one states, one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and
neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
●
The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885
kilometres of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the
country.