SRINAGAR, July 15, 2013:  Despite melting of the self-made  ice shivlingam in the holy Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, pilgrims continued to leave Baltal and Nunwan Pahalgam base camps for the darshan of the shrine.
“The shivlingam has melted but pilgrims are still thronging  the shrine,” said a group of yatris from Gujarat, after having ‘darshan’ yesterday.
They said, “Whether there was an ice-shivlingam or not, pilgrims believed that Lord Shiva and Maa Parvathi were there.  It is this ‘astha’ which brings yatris to the holy shrine from different parts of the country.”
Similar views were expressed by pilgrims from Rajasthan and Punjab who had ‘darshan’ at the cave shrine on July 13.
However, only those who visited the cave shrine during the first fortnight could have ‘darshan’ of the ice-shivlingam, official sources said.
The ice-shivlingam had started melting due to increase in temperature, particularly during the month of June and first  week of July.
More than 2.30 lakh pilgrims have had ‘darshan’ since the commencement of the 55-day-long pilgrimage on June 28  which will culminate on August 21, marking the festival of Rakshabandhan.

Source: dailyexcelsior.com, DT. July 15, 2013.