Ice Lingam Melts Before Amarnath Yatra 2007

Ice Lingam Melts Before Amarnath Yatra 2007



For most 5,00,000 pilgrims last year was a mega fraud.



The lingam melted away even before Yatra officially began.



General Sinha wanted two months legal pilgrimage and much more illegally.



In 2006 he ordered “Fake Lingam Scam.”



Ravinder Singh

August19, 2008



http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070702/j&k.htm#3

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070702/j&k.htm#2

Ice lingam melts
S.P.Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 1, 2007


Even before the Amarnath yatra began, the holy ice lingam in the mountain cave shrine in south Kashmir has melted causing disappointment among thousands of devotees come from different parts of the country to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva.



Arun Kumar, chief executive officer of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), after flying to the shrine, along with Governor S.K.Sinha and union home minister Shivraj Patil, confirmed that the ice lingam had almost melted.



This is for the first time in human memory that the ice lingam has disappeared even before the Pratham Puja(first prayer) was performed in the cave shrine to mark the beginning of the annual pilgrimage.



Arun Kumar told TNS over the telephone that the phenomenon might affect the pilgrimage as many people generally come to have darshan of the ice lingam.

The SASB expected five lakh pilgrims to visit the shrine this year, but the figure might dwindle because of melting of the ice lingam.



This is the second consecutive year that the pilgrimage has got mired in controversy. Last year the SASB faced allegations of an artificial ice lingam having been set up in the cave. A commission of inquiry, however, gave a clean chit to the SASB and suggested several measures to prolong the life of the ice lingam.



The SASB authorities attribute the melting of the ice lingam to global warming, but those connected with the pilgrimage accuse the government of having allowed unauthorised persons to visit the shrine even before the yatra was to be officially inaugurated. It is estimated that more than one lakh persons had visited the shrine in the past 35 days although the pilgrimage was to begin on June 30.



It is being alleged the unauthorised pilgrims were responsible for the early melting of the lingam and the authorities also allowed the private helicopter operators to begin sorties to the shrine many days ago generating heat near the cave. More than 12 sorties of private helicopters, besides those of the VIPs, were being made every day. The Justice K.K.Gupta Commission last year suggested that the helipad should be shifted away from the cave as the flying machines generated a lot of heat and vibrations, particularly while taking off.



Moreover, in a bid to commercialise the pilgrimage, the SASB had allowed Murari Bapu to deliver spiritual week-long sermons at the cave shrine that concluded this morning. A large number of people trekked to the shrine to listen to his discourse.



The authorities had announced in the first week of June that the ice lingam was maintaining its full height of 12 feet, however its width reduced considerably by June 28. But reports reaching here yesterday indicated its height had suddenly reduced to 18 inches and it had almost vanished when the Governor and the home minister visited the shrine to perform Pratham Puja.



The devotees were annoyed that in a bid to commercialise the shrine, the SASB had stretched the pilgrimage to two months over the past five years. Earlier, the pilgrims used to follow the Chhari Mubarak(holy mace) that was carried to the shrine by the mahant of the Srinagar-based Dashnami Akhara during Raksha Bandhan, but now the tradition has been reversed and the holy mace reaches the cave at the fag-end of the pilgrimage.



Governor performs puja at cave shrine
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 1


Amarnath yatra that was scheduled to begin yesterday in the upper reaches of Pahalgam in south Kashmir was inaugurated with Governor S. K. Sinha performing Pratham puja at the cave shrine this morning. It had to be put off by a day due to bad weather and heavy rain in the region for the past few days, even as hundreds of unregistered pilgrims had already even visited the cave shrine..

Thousands of devotees chanting hymns kept traversing the rugged terrain from Baltal and Chandanwari to reach the cave shrine and hundreds were in the queue since early morning adjacent to the sanctum sanctorum to join the Governor in the Pratham puja. He performed special puja in the shrine, rediscovered by a Muslim shepherd 150 years ago.



The Governor, who is also chairman of the Amarnath Shrine Board, wished pilgrims a successful yatra and said arrangements had been made for their stay at various camps. He also lauded the people of Kashmir for extending all facilities to the pilgrims.



The Governor conferred with high officials of the administration, security forces and the shrine board and took stock of the arrangements made for the pilgrims.

Principal secretary to Governor and chief executive officer of the Board Dr Arun Kumar and General Officer Commanding, Victor Force, Major-Gen R K Bhardwaj also accompanied the Governor.