The document provides information about the Amarnath Cave shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Key details include that it is a Hindu shrine situated at an altitude of 3,888 meters containing a stalagmite Shiva lingam. Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees make an annual pilgrimage to the cave. However, the pilgrimage has faced numerous terrorist attacks over the years resulting in many deaths.

1. SUBMITTEDBY: SUSHMITAYADAV
REG.NO9924

2. 1. Introduction
2. History
3. Geographic Location
4. Discovery Of The Holy Cave
5. Amarnath Temple Yatra
6. The Linga
7. Facility
8. Security
9. Route
10. Deaths
11. Organizers
12. 1990’s Bans &1996 Yatra Tradegy
13. 2000 Pilgrimage Massacre
14. 2001 Terrorist Attact Massacre
15. 2002 Terrorist Attack Massacre
16. 2007 Yatra attack

3.  Amarnath Cave is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and
Kashmir, India. The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m
(12,756 ft),about 141 km (88 mi) from Srinagar, the summer
capital of Jammu and Kashmir and reached through
Pahalgam town.
 The shrine forms an important part of Hinduism, and is
considered to be one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism.
 The cave is surrounded by snowy mountains. The cave itself is
covered with snow most of the year except for a short period of
time in summer when it is open for pilgrims.
 Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees make an annual
pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave across challenging
mountainous terrain.

4. HISTORY
The book Rajatarangini (Book VII v.183) refers to
Amareshwara or Amarnath. It is believed that
Queen Suryamathi in the 11th century AD gifted
trishuls, banalingas and other sacred emblems to
this temple.
Rajavalipataka, begun by Prjayabhatta has
detailed references to the pilgrimage to
Amarnath Cave. Other than this, there are further
references to this pilgrimage in many other
ancient texts.

5. • Coordinates 34.2149°N
75.5008°ECoordinates:
34.2149°N 75.5008°E
• Country India
• State Jammu and
Kashmir
• LocationPahalgam,
Anantnag
• Culture
• Sanctum Shiva

6. DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY
CAVE
• Researchers and as per the belief of locals gad
According to legend, Bhrigu Muni was the first to have
discovered Amarnath. Long time ago it is believed that
The Valley of Kashmir was submerged under water and
Kashyap Muni drained it through a series of rivers and
rivulets. Therefore, when the waters drained, Bhrigu
Muni was the first to have Darshan of Lord Amaranth.
Thereafter, when people heard of the Lingam, it
became an abode of Lord Bholenath for all believers
and a pilgrimage which is done by lakhs of people each
year. According to the aria community were the first
to discover the Amaranth cave and saw the first
glimpse of Baba Barfani,

7. • François Bernier,a French physician accompanied Emperor
Aurangzeb during his visit to Kashmir in 1663. In his book
“Travels in Mughal Empire” he writes while giving an
account the places he visited in Kashmir that he was
“pursuing journey to a grotto full of wonderful
congelations, two days journey from Sangsafed” when he
“received intelligence that my Nawab felt very impatient
and uneasy on account of my long absence”. The “grotto”
he refers to is obviously the Amarnath cave as the editor
of the second edition of the English translation of the
book, Vincient A. Smith makes clear in his introduction. He
writes: “The grotto full of wonderful congelations is the
Amarnath cave, where blocks of ice, stalagmites formed by
dripping water from the roof are worshipped by many
Hindus who resort here as images of Shiva….

8. • The peak pilgrimage occurs when the iced stalagmite Shiv
lingam reaches the apex of its waxing phase through the
summer months.The July-August popular annual Hindu
pilgrimage, undertaken by up to 600,000 or more pilgrims to
the 130 feet (40 m)-high glacial Amarnath cave shrine of iced
stalagmite Shiv linga at 12,756 feet (3,888 m) in the
Himalayas, is called Amarnath Yatra.It begins with a 43
kilometres (27 mi) mountainous trek from the Nunwan and
Chandanwari base camps at Pahalgam and reaches cave-
shrine after night halts at Sheshnag Lake and Panchtarni
camps.

9. • Inside the 40 m (130 ft) high Amarnath cave, a stalagmite
is formed due to freezing of water drops that fall from the
roof of the cave on to the floor and grows up vertically
from the cave floor.
• It is considered to be a Shiva Linga by Hindus. It is
mentioned in the ancient Hindu texts of Mahabharata
and Puranas that Lingam represents Lord Shiva.
• The Lingam waxes during May to August, as snow melts
in the Himalayas above the cave and the resultant water
seeps into the rocks that form the cave and gradually
wanes thereafter.
• As per religious beliefs, it has been claimed that the
lingam grows and shrinks with the phases of the moon
reaching its height during the summer festival, although
there is no scientific evidence for this belief.
• According to a Hindu religious beliefs, this is the place
where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to
his divine consort, Parvati.

10. • The pilgrimage suffered another setback with the
massacre at Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam of at 32
people (including 21 unarmed Hindu pilgrims, 7
unarmed Muslim civilians and 3 security force officers)
in a two hour long indiscriminate shoot out by Kashmiri
separatists on August 2, 2000.[24][38] Most were yatris
on their way to Amarnath[39] or porters and horsemen
who would have ferried the pilgrims to the site.[40] This
attack on Amarnath yatra was part of the larger 1st and
2nd August 2000 Kashmir massacre in 5 separate
coordinated terrorist attacks that killed at least 89
(official count) to 105 people (as reported by PTI), and
injured at least 62 more.[24][41] Then Indian Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba for
the killings.

11. R0UTE
• The State Road Transport Corporation and Private
Transport Operators provide the regular services from
Jammu to Pahalgam and Baltal. Also privately hired taxis
are available from Jammu & Kashmir.
• The shorter northern route is just about 16 km long, but
has a very steep gradient and is quite difficult to climb. It
starts from Baltal and passes through Domel, Barari, and
Sangam to reach the cave. The northern route is along the
Amarnath valley and all along the route one can see the
river Amaravati (a tributary of Chenab) which originates
from Amarnath Glacier.

12. FACILITY
• En route the cave, various non-profit
organizations have set up food supply
and resting tents called pandals which
are available for free to the pilgrims.
Near the shrine, hundreds of tents which
are erected by locals can be hired for a
night's stay. Helicopter services from
base camp to Panjtarni (6 km from the
cave) are also available from various
private operators.

13. • Every year, thousands of central armed
forces and state police personnel are
deployed to provide security to pilgrims
from potential terror threats. The forces
position at various halts and also in the
perimeter of the shrine.

14. DEATHS
 Of the 622,000 yatra pilgrims in 2012, 130 died during
the yatra. The major cause was attributed to people who
were not physically fit for the arduous climb, high
elevations, and adverse weather undertook the yatra.
 Some also died in road accidents before reaching the
base camp from where the yatra starts. Of the 130
deaths, 88 were due to purported health reasons and 42
in road accidents.
 The 2012 pilgrimage ended on Shravana Purnima
(Raksha Bandan) Day, 2 August 2012.

15. ORGANIZERS
• Officially, the Yatra is organised by the
government in collaboration with the
Shree Amarnath Shrine Board
(SASB). Various agencies provide
necessary facilities all along the route
during the Yatra period, which
includes provision of ponies, supply of
power, telecommunication facilities,
firewood and setting up of fair price
shops.

16. 1990’S BANS AND 1996
YATRA TRAGEDY
 The pilgrimage was banned from 1991 to 1995 due
to threats from terrorists. In 1993, Pakistan-based
Harkat-ul-Ansar announced a ban on the annual
Amarnath yatra.
 In 1996 the militants had assured that they
would not interfere allowing a resumed yatra
with far greater numbers than in previous
years. However, unseasonal blizzards in late
August of that year led to a tragedy that
claimed the lives of 242 yatris, killed by
exhaustion and exposure.

17. 2001 TERRORIST ATTACK MASSACRE
• On 20 July 2001, a terrorist threw a grenade
on a pilgrim night camp at Sheshnag near the
Amarnath shrine in which at least 13 persons,
including 3 women, were killed in two
explosions and firing by militants, 2 were
security officials and 3 of the killed person
were Muslim civilians. 15 other were also
injured in the attack.

18. 2002 TERRORIST ATTACK
MASSACRE
• On 30 July and 6 August 2002, in two separate
incidentsterroristsfromal-Mansuriyan, a front
group of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, massacred 2 and 9
pilgrims andinjured 3 and 27 people in Srinagar
and near Nunwan pilgrimage base camp
respectively.

19. 2017 YATRA ATTACK
• Seven Hindu pilgrims were killed
on July 10 in a gun attack returning
from Amarnath. There have been
conflicting reports about the
circumstances of the attack, which
India has blamed on Lashkar-e-
Taiba.