Big disappointment, SASB says of 'Shivalingam' melting

Amarnath Holy Cave, June 27 (UNI) The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) today said the ''unusual'' and ''dramatic'' melting of the ice 'Shivalingam' ahead of the commencement of the two-month-long pilgrimage officially from June 30 was a ''big disappointment''.

However, SASB Chief Executive Officer Arun Kumar said it was the faith which draws thousands and thousands of devotees to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath every year.

UNI was the first to report that the ice 'Shivalingam' (the phallic symbol of Lord Shiva) had started melting due to significant rise in temperature within the periphery of the holy cave shrine.

With three days still left for the official commencement of the pilgrimage, hundreds of unregistered devotees paid obeisance at the holy cave shrine today.

Hundreds of unregistered pilgrims have been thronging the Amarnath cave daily for the past few days.

A team of journalists, which visited the shrine today, saw the melting of the 'ice-lingam'.

The devotees who visited the cave shrine today considered themselves ''very lucky and among the chosen ones'' to see the 'Shivalingam'.

''I thank the Lord for allowing me to have a 'darshan (glimpse)' of the 'lingam'. Going by its present shape and size, I don't think the ice-lingam will last long,'' said Manoj Kumar, a pilgrim.

Even the shrine board, headed by Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha, said the 'ice-lingam' would not last long.

''It is too warm in the shrine vicinity. The premature melting due to rise in temperature is somewhat unusual,'' Dr Kumar said.

He said the shrine board has contemplated several steps to preserve the 'ice-lingam'.

However, the CEO said as the Jammu and Kashmir High Court was hearing a case on the alleged tampering of the 'ice-lingam', the shrine board could not do much about it.

Dr Kumar said global warming was one of the major factors for early melting of the 'Shivalingam'.

Holy cave shrine Director M K Raina said the 'ice-lingam' was twelve-and-a-half feet in height and eight feet in girth on May 25.

However, he said the 'lingam' had ''dramatically'' shrunk and reduced to one-tenth of its size now.

A UNI report from Baltal on Monday quoted a pilgrim, Surinder Kumar, as having said that the 'ice-lingam' was melting due to hot temperature in the cave vicinity.

The pilgrim had returned from the holy cave shrine on Sunday after having the glimpse of the 'lingam'.

Mr Kumar, who along with three others had paid obeisance at the shrine on June 23, said the 'ice-lingam' could melt further if there was no change in the unusual above normal temperature.

UNI