The period of my story goes back to May 1981.
I had appeared for my graduation examination and there was enough time for the
results to be published which was expected somewhere in September. During that
period there was a gap of almost three to four months which I spent playing
cricket, chatting, and loitering with friends. During one such gossip session, our
discussion was hovering around an excursion for a few days. Out of our nine
friends, one suddenly proposed our participation in a visit to the holy caves
at Amarnath, in Jammu & Kashmir. Others woke up from slumber and accepted
the proposal. At that time, there was no obligation of registration,
medical certificate, undertaking in case of any untoward incident, etc. So it was
just booking of railway tickets to Jammu Tawai, proceed to Pahalgam by
bus, and start for the trek to the holy caves.
Our excitement leaped no bounds and every day
we used to discuss our forthcoming plan. Since there would be a huge
rush on the auspicious day of Shrabani Purnima (Full moon day of Shravan i.e.
July-August) so we decided to better opt for Guru Purnima (Full moon day of
Ashar i.e. June-July). As the date of booking tickets was arriving
near, we found that gradually there was a withdrawal of intention of our
tour by my friends with some excuse or other. Finally, on the day of the
booking of the ticket, I found the number of candidates has reduced to one. My
friend, who proposed the motion, also dropped himself from the list. But I was
totally adamant to take the risk and I purchased the ticket for Jammu Tawai
from Howrah by the fastest possible express train. There was terrible
resistance from my mother but I found my father to be on my side. Actually, he
was the inspiration for my journey.
The Journey Starts
At last, I boarded the train all alone. Though
there was the excitement of solo adventure a fear also developed simultaneously
which I did not disclose to anybody. Since I boarded at night, I had no other
job except to sleep. The next morning, when I was sitting beside the window and
enjoying the monsoon of Bihar, I got a call from an unknown person
standing on the corridor.
The person stared at me for a while and asked
where I stayed. I coolly explained my address and location. Then he dropped a
name and told me how I was related to that person. I replied that he was my own
uncle. He told me that my uncle was his classmate and also introduced himself
with a residential address. Though I did not know him his nephew was known to
me with whom I used to play cricket. The next question was put to me about my
destination of travel. When he came to know that I was going to Amarnath, he
was delighted with joy and he also confirmed that he was also on the same
mission. After our brief acquaintance, I found that he was placed in the
adjacent coupe of the same compartment and I exchanged my seat with another
person to be within his close vicinity. Incidentally, he did not allow me to
spend a single buck for the next phase of our railway journey which included tea,
snacks, lunch, and dinner. We reached Jammu Tawai on the third morning and
after refreshing ourselves in the railway waiting room, we proceeded to
Pahalgam by a public bus from the main bus stand. It was more than four hours'
journey and on the way, we had breakfast cum lunch duly sponsored by my new
uncle. By that time I had started calling him uncle as we were in continuous
deliberations.
We reached Pahalgam in the afternoon and I
entered the room of his hotel, which was pre-booked. As it was a double-bedded
room, we were comfortable. When I wanted to share the cost, he scolded me in
high pitch with the advice that since he was my local guardian, it was his
responsibility to take care of me.
Day at Pahalgam
Despite my second visit to Pahalgam, (my
first visit was during my infancy and I hardly remembered anything) we started
loitering around the small hamlet and rippling the Lidder River. It
was not as cold as we expected but there was a drop in the temperature due to
sporadic rain and wind from the mountains. But our energy and greed for
enjoying the beauty of nature did not restrict us to remain in the closed door
of the hotel. Since we were on a trek, we both carried waterproofs, hiking
shoes, and rucksack along with other necessities. Since we were to start our
trek on the next day, we purchased some dry fruits. At that time, the packaged
water was not available, so it was necessary to carry a water bottle with each
passenger. My uncle told me that he would prefer to hire a pony as he would not
be able to walk for such a distance. Since I was young and energetic, I
declined his proposal and decided to trek to Amarnath.
First-Day Trek
We started together. My uncle hired a pony
that carried his luggage as well as mine. We had to carry a sleeping bag,
clothing (in case the present clothes got drenched due to rain), dry fruits,
and toiletries. I kept a waterproof, a small number of dry fruits just for the
day, a water bottle, a torch, and a cap in my backpack. After crossing the
gate, we got separated. The pony with its rider trotted at its own speed while
I started trekking along with many other pilgrims or tourists. Our target
was to reach Chandanwadi which was 16 km away at a height of 9600 feet. On the
way, I had to cross one glacier, which was slippery due to huge footprints and
on the other side, Lidder River with its majestic water volume
flowing towards the plain. The journey was not so tough and with so many people
of different age groups moving towards their destination, I found myself
comfortable. In addition, I had lunch of paratha, vegetable, and spicy achar
from a Langar (charitable
food distribution center) sponsored by some philanthropic person. By
afternoon, I reached the camp where my uncle had already reached and was
waiting for me. I was offered a hot glass of tea and my bed for the night in
the tent was already earmarked by him. In the absence of any electricity, we
had to complete the dinner before the sunset and placed ourselves
under the blanket. The tent was also a part of sponsorship by some donors along
with our dinner. We were advised to wear warm clothing in the apprehension of a
drop in the late-night temperature.
As a word of caution, we were told that our
journey would be tough as we would have to cross Pissu Top, Zoji Tal, Nagakoti,
and reach our next camp at Shesh Nag which was 12 km away at a height of 11800
feet. We started after breakfast and soon the pony carrying my uncle faded away
in the mountain terrain. I trekked at my own speed without caring who was
overtaking me. Soon rain started and I had to cover myself in waterproof but
the rain did not last long.
As I reached the base of Pissu Top, I learnt
that there was an elevation of around 1000 feet to be covered in just 1 km. It
was a really tough trek as I had to pant after taking a few steps along the
rocks. Even the pony could not carry their riders because of the steepness.
Having seen some shortcut availed by the guides and few other people, I tried
to be over-enthusiastic but slid down and bruised my hands and legs.
Then I remembered the proverb “There is no short cut to hard work”. Ultimately,
with the support from the local guides, I had to use the normal trekking route
and proceed to my destination. After reaching Pissu Top, I had to take rest for
almost an hour and avail tea and snacks from a Langar that too free of cost.
Since the emergency medicines were in the main luggage, I simply washed my
bruises with spring water but that did not reduce the pain much. My next target
was Zoji Tal, which was almost on the same height with slight undulation and
hilly terrain. Gradually, I could see the famous Shesh Nag, a small lake with
much below the trekking path level and snow on all sides. It was the
source of the Lidder river. There was a myth that a snake could be sometimes
seen floating on the water and that was the last sign of life on way to
Amarnath. The tents were planted on a tabletop slightly on higher elevation to
avoid snow along the bank of the lake. The temperature dropped to a
much lower level. It was definitely around zero or sub-zero as the snow was not
in the melting stage. The tent was comfortable and beds with a double-layered the blanket was provided by some donor agencies. Our routine was usual, dinner in
the twilight, and then directly to bed.
When we got up in the morning it was totally
dark and we felt that we were sleeping on a water bed. It was terribly cold. In
spite of a double-layered blanket, full sleeve sweater, jacket, and monkey cap,
we felt that we were bare-bodied and we were forced to leave the bed and come
out of the tent to enjoy glittering stars in the clear sky. We found that many
other passengers were also not being able to withstand the cold while some
others complained about altitude sickness. But the same was within the
tolerable limit as the vegetation was available to some extent thus producing
oxygen.
Our trek started after breakfast and
gradually we reached one side of the famous Mahagunas Top. The top was around 5 km
away at a height of 14500 feet, after which the downward journey would
start towards Panchatarani. Mahagunas Pass looked like an undulated meadow full
of snow for miles together. Along with a few other young guys, I started
running from one side of the top to the other so as to reach the next elevation
with the inertia gained from gliding down from one top. Suddenly on the
way, I found total discomfort and fell down on the snow being unconscious.
When I regained consciousness, I found sage pouring water in my mouth
in drops.
Then I received a great piece of advice from
the sage- “Do not play with mountains. You allow yourself to be carried to the
holy cave, God will carry you there. Be brave but not irresponsible”. Still, I
did not know, who he was and wherefrom he appeared. But the piece of advice,
which he gave were being remembered by me in all my future trekking programmes.
I was witness to one of the most tragic incident while crossing Mahagunas Pass. On one side of the pass, there was a huge gorge leading to an undercurrent, a portion of which was visible. An old lady on a pony missed the track and both the pony and the lady slid down the snow fell into the visible undercurrent and were blown away by the strong force of the water flowing from under the glacier. Within a few seconds, both got vanished and I along with other passengers remained dumb spectators. The horrifying view still haunted me when I recollected my trek to Amarnath.
Having crossed Pabibal, I reached our next
tent at Panchtarani crossing another 6 km at a height of around 12800 feet. The
temperature was not so low there but the gusty wind blew along the valley. The
place was a confluence of five rivulets coming down from different mountains
and ultimately conjugated river was called Amar Ganga. We went to sleep with much
excitement as the next morning would be the ultimate day of our so-called
expedition.
Fourth-Day Trek
In the early morning, when I woke up, I found
some of the pilgrims had already left the tent as they would take a holy bath
in Amargana and then proceed to the holy caves for performing puja. My uncle
and I were not so strong a believer so we had breakfast in the Langar and then
trekked to the holy caves which were around 3 km away from the camping site. We found army
personnel coming from another route mostly in horses or on foot. The said route
was from Baltal on the Srinagar-Leh highway. It was just one day trip through
that route but only restricted to the army and other important persons. Later
on, both the routes were opened to the public. Helicopter service had also been
introduced from Srinagar at a later date.
Ultimate Destination
As we approached the holy caves, the crowd
increased and there was a queue to enter the main arena. We had to leave the
shoes outside and after climbing around two floors, we were in the cave. The
cave was formed from stalagmite rocks with a height of around 40 meters. The holy shrine of
Amarnath was before us. It was believed to be an idol of Lord Shiva and
worshipped accordingly. The entire shrine was formed from the freezing of water
drops that percolated within the cave. The shrine generally got formed by mid
of June and got waned by mid of August. We were fortunate enough to see the
full size of the shrine as there was a chance of early melting of the shrine
due to adverse weather and heavy rush causing heat in the cave arena.
Considering the huge rush, pilgrims were not allowed to stand for more than
two-three minutes.
History of Amarnath
The story of Amarnath went back to the
mythological era of Mahabharata and Puranas. However, as heard from the local
guides and pony owners, the discovery of the cave was made by a local shepherd
who took shelter in the cave due to snowfall. Being thirsty, he hit the piece of
ice with his stick to break it into pieces and melt it to quench his thirst.
But as soon as he hit the ice, blood oozed out and he got scared. He returned
to Srinagar and informed the incident to the local king, who was the forefather
of Raja Hari Singh of Kashmir. The king sent his men to examine the truth and
found the information to be genuine. Later on, the shepherd, who was a local
Muslim, was conferred with the responsibility of performing puja of the shrine.
Till then, his ancestors were engaged in managing the affairs of puja.
Return
Journey
After performing puja, we came down from the
cave, and as a successful pilgrim; we were offered a huge quantity of food by a
Langar which turned to be our lunch. We proceeded to the old tent at Panchatarani
and took rest being satisfied to have completed our mission. The last lap of
our journey from Panchatarani to holy caves and back was accompanied by my uncle who wanted to acquire virtue by walking to the shrine on foot.
The next morning, we started at around
five-thirty in the morning as our target was to reach Pahalgam by evening.
Ultimately, I could start on time and had food on the way from Langar and
reached Pahalgam around dusk.
Memories
It was a memorable journey from Kolkata to Amarnath with so many twists like meeting with the uncle, escaping from an accident twice, and witnessing the death of a pilgrim, and ultimately reaching the holy caves. It was a journey where my expenditure was only the up and down train fare and nothing more than that. As a student without any income, it was a boon to me, maybe because of the blessings of Lord Shiva.
But one question still haunts me. Whether it was mere trekking or pilgrimage? For me, it was more of fun and enjoyment but for some, it was really attaining the ultimate goal of life. The question remained unanswered.
Photo Courtesy-Google
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