Article Written By EIH Researcher And Writer
Aadrit Banerjee
Devi, the form of primordial energy, desired to learn the secret of immortality from her husband Maha-Kala. Shiva pondered on his wife’s persistent demand, and selected a secluded cave on the lap of Himalayas, where he could relate to her the amar-katha. The divine couple journeyed their way to this spot; Parvati eager to hear the tale, Shiva freeing himself of all elements of material attachment along the way. At Bail Goan, what is more popularly known as Pahalgam, Shiva left his bull Nandi. He released his moon from his jata at Chandanwari. In Lake Sheshnag, he released his snakes, while Ganesh stayed at Mahagunas Parvat. At Panjtarni, the guardian of the panchatatva left the five elements behind namely Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Sky, transcending beyond the body, emerging beyond his earthly form, and there he danced the Tandava. Finally, then with Parvati, his wife, Shiva entered the cave turning into a Lingam of snow. This is the Amarnath cave, and there Shiva sits still, white and austere, true to his form and imagery, radiating his blessings of immortality to the thousand devotees every year who trek the arduous path to visit this esoteric natural form of the great lord.
This Swayambhu Lingam inside the Amarnath Cave, which is situated in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, is a natural stalagmite formation located inside a 40 m tall cave at a height of 3,888 m on the Amarnath Mountain. The stalagmite is formed as the water drops freeze falling from the roof of the cave onto the floor that results in an upward growth of an ice formation in the form of a Lingam.
Legends say the Lingam was first discovered by sage Bhrigu, after Kashyapa drained the flooded Kashmir valley by creating several rivers and rivulets. Mentions of this Lingam could be found in the book Rajatarangini and Prajna Bhatta’s Rajavalipataka. The travel accounts of François Bernier speak of “a grotto full of wonderful congelations” referring to the Amarnath Cave which he visited with the then Emperor Aurangzeb when they toured Kashmir in 1663. Years later in 1898, the year when Vivekananda would worship a Muslim girl as Kumari at the Kheer Bhawani Temple in Srinagar, the monk also visited the Amarnath Lingam, which Sister Nivedita writes about in great detail in her “Notes of Some Wanderings with the Swami Vivekananda”.
The Amarnath Lingam, that brings together legends, history, geography, climate in the lingam imagery of Shiva, is only a particular aspect of the very rich tradition of Shiva worship in the Kashmir valley. Kashmir, surrounded by peaks, from where several rivers and streams flow, the valley that remains covered in snow for long parts of the year, is said to be the abode of Shiva and Parvati. This is the land that many believe gave birth to the tenet of Shaivism. This is the valley which celebrates Herath, the local version of Shivratri, and where the Goddess resides with Shiva always, in very syncretic forms that challenge orthodox and dogmatic religious beliefs.
For instance, in Pahalgam, on the banks of the Lidder river, stands a 900-year old Shiva temple, which perhaps is the only shrine in the valley that has Muslim priests. Mohammad Abdullah and Ghulam Hassan, two Muslims from a nearby village had stood guard of the Mamalaka temple, ensuring the safety of the 3-feet black-stone Lingam, performing arti and distributing prasad to the devotees, after the Kashmiri Pandits migrated from the valley in 1989. Abdullah and Hassan continue the work of Abdul Bhatt, a Muslim, who was given the responsibility of guarding the temple by its priest Pandit Radha Krishen when migrated from the valley. Abdullah and Hassan wish to return the control of this temple built by Raja Jai Suria to the Pandits, but through their work they contribute to the syncretic Shaiva tradition that the valley has always been known for.
It was in this very land that the Trika Shaivism, a non-dualist Hindu tradition of Shiva-Shakta Tantra, had its genesis in 850 CE. It is thus also known as Kashmiri Shaivism. It is based on the idealistic and monistic Pratyabhijna (“Recognition”) philosophical system, forwarded by Utpaladeva (c. 925–975 CE) and Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025 CE), and the centrality of the three goddesses Parā, Parāparā, and Aparā. The major scriptures that define this school are the Mālinīvijayottara Tantra, the Siddhayogeśvarīmata and the Anāmaka-tantra.
In the philosophy of Recognition, as developed by thinkers like Utpaladeva, Isvara that is Shiva is the single reality, being and absolute consciousness. All souls are considered to be one with this God, but they are oblivious of their true nature due to maya. It is through knowledge that one is able to recognise one’s authentic divine nature, and therefore, can become a liberated being. Another important factor of the Trika theology is the active and dynamic nature of consciousness: spanda, that is the spontaneous pulsation, which is an expression of its freedom (svātāntrya) and power (Śakti). Therefore, though the philosophy is idealist, it is rooted in the reality of the world and daily life. The most fascinating aspect of the Trika philosophy is its conception of the Absolute God in terms of trika, or triads. Accordingly there are the three realities: Shiva, Sakti and Anu; the three powers: Icchā (will), Jñāna (knowledge), and Kriyā (action); the three entities: pati (Śiva), pāśa (bondage), paśu (soul); Parā (transcendence), Parāparā (transcendence and immanence) and Aparā śakti (immanence) or the Goddess-Triad; the three aspects of knowledge: Pramatri (the subject), Pramana (the modalities of knowledge) and Prameya – the known object; so on and so forth. This is symbolised by the trident, the three eyes and the three leaves of the bilva twig — symbols which are associated with Shiva.
Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and evil, he who is everything yet nothing, is thus intricately connected to the paradise on Earth, Kashmir, in philosophical and tangible ways that bridge across divisions and create a certain distinct harmony that the very chanting of the lord’s name is said to create. Perhaps the essence of Shiva-worship in Kashmir is brought about in this Persian poem by Ali Mardan Khan, the Kurdish governor of the valley appointed by Shah Jahan, who happened to witness the Lord one night on the Mahadeo peaks:
Ajab Sanyaas-e-didam
Namo Narayan Guftam
E-Khakay paye bosidham
Shab Shahay
(I saw a strange renouncer, my lips uttered – Namoh Narayan
I kissed the dust flying off his feet, that night)
Nigahay bar manay Miskeen
Namood Az Chashim Tabaan Tar
Makanash Laamkan tar bood
Shab Shahay
(He looked deep into me with his shining eyes
I saw his house in the uninhabitable infinite, that night)
From Amarnath to the esoteric Trika school, from Herath to his dalliances with Parvati, from the snow-covered peaks and valleys that mirror his body smeared with ash to the austere beauty of the valley that is also his own characteristic, Shiva lives in Kashmir. And this holy night of Shivaratri, may his rhythmic dance dispel all fear and ignorance from our bigoted minds, fill us with the calmness of Kashmir–snow, and the pristine beauty of the valley.
References:
- “Muslim priests at 900-yr-old Shiva temple in Kashmir”. The Times of India, 8 Jul. 2009, https://m.timesofindia.com/india/muslim-priests-at-900-yr-old-shiva-temple-in-kashmir/articleshow/4751800.cms.
- Lawrence, David Peter. Kashmiri Shaiva Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/kashmiri/, Accessed 17 Feb. 2023.
- Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of the Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989, p. 12.
- Pandit, Moti Lal. The Trika Shaivism of Kashmir. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2003.
- Razdan, Vinayak. “Ali Mardan Khan’s Shiva Persian Poem”. SearchKashmir, 19 Feb., 2012, https://searchkashmir.org/2012/02/ali-mardan-khans-shiva-persian-poem.html.
- Razdan, Vinayak. “Harihar Kalyan – Shiv Lagun by Krishna Razdan,1938”. SearchKashmir, 12 May 2012, https://searchkashmir.org/2012/05/harihar-kalyan-shiv-lagun-by-krishna.html.
