Amarnath - Vaishnavdevi

9 Nights / 10 Days

The Amaranth Cave was discovered by a Muslim shepherd of Batakot, Buta Malik, when he lost his flock and found that it had strayed into the sacred spot some 150 years ago. There is a documentry proof of this discovery. Even today his family receives some part of the alms offered by pilgrims. On the other hand, to prove that the holy cave and the ice lingam were known to the people since very ancient times and have been continuously and regularly visited by pilgrims not only from Kashmir but also from different parts of India. While the earliest reference to Amarnath can be seen in the Nilamata Purana (v.1324), a 6th century Sanskrit text which depicts the religious and cultural life of early Kashmiris and gives Kashmir’s own creation myth, the pilgrimage to the holy cave has been described with full topographical details in the Bhringish Samhita and the Amarnatha Mahatmya, both ancient texts said to have been composed even earlier.