Amarnath shrine priests say ice lingam not natural this year

‘‘This (Shiv lingam) is not natural. The real story should now come out,’’ says president of the Purohit Sabha Mattan Pandit, A K Sidha. ‘‘Who has done it and why? There should be an inquiry.’’

The pujaris at the cave don’t mince words. ‘‘This is not the original lingam. It has been mounted here,’’ says Pandit Damodar. ‘‘They (Shrine Board) heaped a pile of snow here and used some chemicals to prevent it from melting. The pilgrims frequently ask us what this is and we are not able to give them a satisfactory answer,’’ he says.

Sidha accuses the Shrine Board of creating the artificial lingam to earn revenue.

‘‘The Shrine Board looks at it from a business point of view. They want to turn a religious yatra into pilgrimage tourism,’’ he says. ‘‘Originally, the yatra used to be for one month only and it should be continued like that. It is wrong to extend it to two months.’’

On the road leading to the cave shrine, a beeline of pilgrims are waiting for their turn. Madhav Prasad of Maharashtra is returning after having a darshan of the Lingam and is disappointed.

‘‘Its (Shiv Lingam’s) shape is different this time,’’ he says. ‘‘This is my second visit here. I had earlier visited in 2002. Some people are saying this lingam is artificial. There should be a probe.’’

The controversy emerged for the first time, when the custodian of the Holy mace of Lord Shiva, Mahant Deependira Giri, at a press conference, blamed the Shrine Board of creating an unnatural lingam.

The J&K Governor, Lt Gen S K Sinha (Retd), who heads the Shrine Board, has denied the allegations, saying that the lingam is natural.