Amaranadh Temple History

Once while Parvati was sitting alone on the Mount Kailash, sage Narada reached there. Narada knew that Lord Shiva knew the mantra (incantation) for becoming immortal (अमरत्वाचा मंत्र). He persuaded Parvati to get to know the mantra. So Parvati went to Shiva and insisted on knowing it. Shiva tried to avoid, but to no avail.  Shiva wears a necklace of skulls. Each of those skulls is a symbol of different life of Parvati. So in a way, their love is immortal. So why does she need to know the mantra. etc. But Parvati continued to insist and now Shankara had no options left. So he agreed.

However, he wanted that no other mortal should get the mantra. For that, they had to go to a secluded place. Now which place other than Kashmir would qualify? They decided to go to Kashmir.

They reached Pahalgam. As per the standard version, Pahal Gam means “town of the shepherds”. However, the Hindus in Kashmir say that Pahal means Bull. So, Shiva left his bull Nandi behind. The place where he did that became Pahal Gam, “Town of the bull”.

At Chandanwadi, which means place where the sandalwood stays, Shiva left behind the Chandan (sandalwood) and moon. The locals say that at oone time, there was a forest of sandalwood in Chandanwadi which was destroyed due to indiscrete tree felling.

Then Shiva reached Pisu Top. There was a very thick forest there and Parvati was lost in the forest. Shiva ordered the jungle to find Parvati, but the jungle failed to do that. So Shiva opened his third eye and burnt the jungle. So now, you don’t find a single tree at Pisu Top.

A little distance ahead, Shiva left his snake, Shesh Nag, behind. That place is called Shesh Nag. At Panchtarni, he left Ganga behind. This way, he left all the living things behind.

He then ordered the Himalay’s to make a secluded place for them. So the mountain split making the Amarnath cave. There were two eggs of pigeon and an egg of a parrot on a tree in front of the cave. Somehow, a sage named Vasudev had heard that Shiva was going to tell the mantra of immortality and whoever heard that would become immortal. He entered the parrot’s egg. Using his special powers, Shiva burnt all the living things around the cave. However, since the eggs are neither live nor dead, they were spared.

Then Shiva started reciting the mantra. But Parvati was very tired and went to sleep. However, at that time, the pigeon’s eggs hatched and the young pigeons were making noises. Shiva thought Parvati was listening and hence continued.

When the mantra was over, Shiva saw that Parvati was asleep, so who was making the noise? At that time, he saw sage Vasudev running away. Shiva threw an arrow at him, but sage Vasudev entered the womb of a pregnant women. The gods told Shiva the futulity of trying to kill Vasudev since he had already heard the mantra. So Shiva took back his arrow. Vasudev came out of the womb and went to his heavenly abode with his body.

The locals here say that the two pigeons still visit the cave at midnight on every full moon.

Isn’t that a very interesting story. 

The Shivling at Amarnath is made from ice and it’s not made by anyone. It’s formed naturally. The height of the Shivling changes as per the phases of the moon. I have seen a photograph of the Shivling. It looks like the shape below.