God       : amarnAth
Goddess   : pArvatI
thiirtham : amara ganga
Great Saints visited : bRiNgi mahaRiShi

History:

While all the devas, devatas take birth (incarnations) Lord shiva never takes birth. He is adorned with the skull-garland of all those who die and be born. Goddess shakti once asked the Lord how It alone is beyond birth and death. The Lord mR^ityu~njaya replied that it is amara rahsya (deathless secret). devi requested the Lord to tell that. The Unique Lord took pArvatI to the lonely amarnath cave leaving behind all his close attendants too, nandi at bailgA.Nv (pahalgham), moon at chandanvAri, adorning snakes at sheShanAg, ganapati at mahAguNas. He ordered the five nature-elements (earth, air, water, fire & space) to guard at pa~nchataraNi. Sitting in the cave the Lord ordered the kAlAgni rudra to burn off the whole surroundings. In that a parrot which was just hatching escaped as it was under the cool Feet of the Lord ! In theholy play the Supreme wanted to stage It started telling the secret and the goddess was listening with a "Hmm" and subsequently she slept off. But the new born parrot started listening and it gave the sound "Hmm". At the end, the Lord asked pArvatI whether she heard in whole. She replied she slept and so didn't listen. Now it was the parrot which was hmming. The parrot then escaped (!) from the cave and got into the womb of vyAsa's wife. It is said to have been born as shuka braHma R^iShi.

This cave being the place where the Companionless Ever-present God telling the amara rahasya, it is one of the very holy abodes for the shaivites.

Specialities:

• In the seat of Lord amarnAth a shivali~Ngam gets formed of ice every year. To worship this marvelous Lord shiva people from various parts assemble here. The abode is open only for one month in a year. The shrAvaNa month (approximately August) full moon is considered very auspicious.
• The other li~Ngam that is formed near the main altar is considered to be Goddess pArvatI.
• There are always two pigeons living in the cave. These are said to be two gaNas (soldiers). They were playing and disturbing when the Lord was dancing and so they are here as the pigeons.
• The whole trek to the Lord's cave is unforgettable beauty. The whole nature around appear as the abode of the Lord, the Almighty !

Location:

State    : Jammu & Kashmir
Situation: In Kashmir valley to the north of anatnag. The base village is 
bailgANv (pahalgam). One has to trek 32 km from chandhanvari (16 km from 
bailgAnv) to reach the holy cave, the Lord's abode. It is at an altitude of 
13500 feet from the mean sea level.

Pictures