While Americans divine representations of the Virgin Mary from salt stains on underpasses (see author photo), Hindus find incarnations of their gods in remote caves icicles located in the Himalayan mountains at 12,000 feet in the nuclear battleground between India and Pakistan.
Over the past two weeks, some 50,000 Hindus have made the tumultuous trek to the disputed Jammu/Kashmir region to visit the Amarnath cave where an icicle in the shape of Lord Shiva exists.
Shiva, who is coincidentally the Hindu god of transformation and/or destruction, is at risk of being destroyed and/or transformed into water, at least in his icicle manifestation. Helicopter sorties who fly the less-hardcore, more wealthy pilgrims up to the Amarnath cave are causing the Hindu god to melt prematurely.
While the sorties have since been reduced in number, the fate of the Hindu god remains to be seen. In 2007, the Shiva stalagmite melted before some 50,000 pilgrims could pay homage. According to a senior official of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), the group that manages the cave's affairs, then it was the sheer presence of people in the cave that caused the premature melting noting that each person generates the heat of a 100 watt light bulb.
A two decade study concluded that a nearby helipad, increased pollution and the effects of global warming were adversly affecting the god of destruction. Members of the SASB will continue to monitor the situation.
wow
ReplyDelete9966665494
ReplyDelete