Amarnath
One of the most holy and widely visited pilgrimage places in India is Amarnath. Located 145 kilometers away from Srinagar, Amarnath is a place that every Hindu desires to visit at least once in their lifetime. Situated amidst huge mountains, the Amarnath cave is the place where Lord Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods of the Holy Trinity, the other two being Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, is worshipped. Legend has it that the Amarnath Cave was the place where Lord Shiva revealed the secret of immortality to his wife, Goddess Parvati. In order to keep it a secret from any form of life on Earth, He chose this isolated place in the Himalayas. On the way, he left his bull, Nandi at Pahalgaon or Pahal gam, his moon at Chandanwari, his son Lord Ganesha was left at Mahagunas Hill and the snakes at Sheshnag. It was at Panchtarni that he finally left behind the five elements and entered the cave with Parvati. In order to safeguard one of the important theories of the lifecycle, he created a fire to destroy any sort of life present in the cave. But miraculously, two pigeon egg's survived under the deer skin in which the Lord was seated and they are the only ones that are believed to have overheard the secret. In recent times too, it is said that pilgrims can see a pair of pigeons nesting in the caves. The cave derived its name from the fact that the secret of immortality or Amar Katha was revealed here.The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888m and is visited by lakhs of devotees from distant places in the month of July and August. The journey is a tough one but it finally pays off with a glimpse at the Shiva lingam- the symbol of Lord Shiva formed in ice.