Shravan Purnima - Revisiting Religio-Folkloric Traditions

The great God, Lord Shiva, popularly known as Deva Dev Mahadev is the tutelary deity of the holy month of Shravan. The month is also famously known for the most sacred festival of Shravan Purnima which marks the culmination of the holy Yatra of the Swami Amarnath ji. In accordance with a religious belief, every Monday of Shravan is considered to be auspicious and those offering Jal and milk abhishek to the Shivling are said to get religious merits. As per a Puranic lore, the churning of the ocean or the Samundar Manthan for the extraction of the Amrit or the elixir of immortality took place in the month of Shravan. It is also said to be the time when the great God Lord Shiva consumed the deadliest poison, Halahal, which was also produced during Samudra Manthan, to save the world and the humanity from the total annihilation and extinction. The Devbhoomi Kashmir is unique and blessed as Lord Shiva is the Presiding deity of the entire region of Kashmir, extending from the Krishna Ganga ghati to the Panchal mountain range. Kashmir also has the lonesome distinction in the entire country as nowhere else has Lord Shiva manifested in so many aspects as in Kashmir. They are appropriated by a host of Swayambhu cave shrines found in the length and breadth of the region. They are most sanctimonious and highly venerated shrines not only in Kashmir, but in the entire country and the world at large. They are an outcome of the divine occurrence. The world-famous Shri Swami Amarnath cave shrine situated at an altitude of 12,750 ft. and a distance of around 141 Kms from Srinagar constitutes not only the most revered and hallowed shrine of Lord Shiva, but also an inseparable part of our Sanatan haram tradition. The epitome of reverence and devotion is a self-made 130ft. ice lingam formed inside the cave shrine. One of the oldest references regarding its waxing and waning in size under the effect of the alternating Krishna Paksha and Shukla Paksh periods, is in the Puranas and the Mahabharta. As per a Puranic lore, the lord Shiva is said to have revealed the two contrasting truths about the mundane life and that of the immortality to His divine spouse, the Goddess Parvati inside this cave shrine. A reference in the world famous Rajatarangini also makes a mention of the queen Suryamati of the yore having made a reverential offering of the holy Trident, the Trishul, the Banlingas of Narmada and other sacred accessories to the lord Amareshwar at the cave shrine of Swami Amarnath in the 11th century AD. One more popular lore says that the ancient sage Bhrigu Rishi was the first human being to have discovered the Swami Amarnathji cave shrine. He is also credited to have been the first devotee who had the darshan of the Swayambhu ice lingam in the cave after the Satisar lake had been drained out by Kashyap Rishi and the reclaimed land was made fit for human habitation. The holy shrine has a 43 Km. long mountainous trek from Nunwan, with its base camp being at Chand Anwari, Pahalgam. The halting spots enroute are lake Sheshnag, Panchtarni and highly gradient Mahagunas mountain. An alternative and shorter 16 Km. route starting from Baltal covers the spots of Domal, Sangam, the streamlet of Amravati and the ensuing Barari Marg. Mahadev trek is another holy and faith inspired trek undertaken by the devotees on the Shravan Purnima day. It is situated at a height of 13,013 feet in the vicinity of Suresh war mountain range. There are many routes to reach the peak. The most popular is the one having the starting base at the hamlet of Cheek Dara near the picturesque village of Hawan near the city of Srinagar. The halting place for this pilgrimage is Lid was, which is an enticing small meadow at a height of 10,000 feet. It is inhabited by a few nomadic Gujjar’s. The devotees usually leave the place pre-dawn, around 4 am to continue their further trek. Mahadev is a naturally evolved blackish grey stone Shivling, about 4 feet tall with a circumference of about 2 ½  feet. The devotees walk barefooted on the encircling rough rock sides of a huge boulder sheltering the Shivling at its top. It is considered as more strenuous and struggling climb than that of the Swami Amarnath trek. As per a home-grown oral lore, the entire city of Srinagar remains under the sheltering gaze of the lord Shiva as Mahadeva peak can be viewed from all parts of the city. Harishwar is another Swayambhu cave shrine of the lord Shiva atop the mighty Harieshwar mountain range in the eye soothing town of Khonmoh in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama. According to an endemic oral narrative, the lord Shiva manifests here in the form of a divine householder in the company of His cosmic spouse, the Goddess Parvati. There are two caves here and the main cave houses the self-manifested Shivling. The arduous and tiring journey is undertaken only during the night as it is fearsome to negotiate almost standing and plain patch of rocks designated as Haem Haer. It requires crawling by anchoring one’s feet and hands on the rock cliffs and in between rock gaps. Thaejwara is also a famous cave shrine of lord Shiva situated in the vicinity of the historical Bijbehara town in Anantnag district. It is popularly known by the alternative name of Pracheen Amarnath. An antiquated legend states that in the times of yore, it was obligatory for the devotees to pay obeisance at a nearby temple, known by the folkloric name of Ghanta Mandir, which is non-existent now. According to the said lore, the devotees were required to offer pooja here amidst the blowing of shankh and striking of the temple bell thrice. This ritual is said to have given the name to the temple as Ghanta Mandir and the surrounding locality as Ghantalipora. Ghanta Mandir does not exist now but stands immortalized in the oral folkloric tradition. One more connecting lore says that devotees were required to undertake the Thaejwara yatra barefooted from the Ghanta Mandir. The striking of the temple bell thrice has a symbolic resonance in our religious thought as it denotes Trinetra, Trilochana, Trinity, Trilokinath; three sattvic gunas of rajas, sattvic and tamas; three stages of consciousness; three stages of being i.e. immanent, transcendent and absolute; three worlds of Bhur, Bhuva and Swaha; three stages of time : past, present and future; three curves of Pranava Aum and above all the three pronged Trishul. The sacred Dnyaneshwar cave shrine situated in Arin, Bandipora district of north Kashmir, also witnesses a huge rush of the devotees on the Shravan Purnima day. It is famously known as Chota Amarnath. A devotee is required to climb up about sixty meters of deep and dense forests of Arin to be at the sanctimonious cave of lord Shiva. As per an oral lore, pooja performed here on Shravan Purnima is said to absolve a devotee of all the sins. An area specific oral legend remembers the lord Shiva in the form of Paap Chaen Mahadeva, who is believed to grant redemption from the sins of mundane life, if He is pleased. The Village lore ascribes the origin of Arin to a Vedic Sanskrit word meaning a robust woodland. The ancient and historic Shankaracharya temple is situated atop the Shankaracharya hill in the uptown area of Srinagar city. On the Shravan Purnima day, the devotees from Srinagar would make a beeline in the wee hours to pay obeisance at the temple. As per a timeless oral narrative, the hill is said to be a hallowed and pious one as it forms a sacred Triad due to its continuum the adjacent Rudra parvat, Sureshwar woodland and the range of Mahadeva peak .As per a religious belief, the lord Shiva is said to reside at the Rudra parvat in the form of the Rigvedic God of Rudra. The legend also states that lord Shiva makes a divine visit to the Shankaracharya hill when in a pleasing and delightful state. The oral lore is substantiated by an anecdote of the yore wherein a Shiva worshipper and a spiritually endowed Kashmiri Pandit, Sodh Saeb, had the darshan of lord Shiva at a spot in the vicinity of the temple at the Shankaracharya hill. He stands immortalized in the folkloric tradition for having got moksha and salvation at the hill itself. It is one of the reasons that the clay of the hill is considered sacred and is used in the making of Parthishor on Shravan Purnima. On this day, many devotees would carry water taken from the Durganag temple spring in the earthen pitchers on their heads for the Jal abhishek of the Shivling at the Shankaracharya temple. Lord Shiva as per a native folk belief, dwells permanently at the Harmokh mountain peak in the vicinity of the Gangabal lake in Ganderbal district. Situated at a height of 16,870 feet, it is considered as one of the most sacred peaks. According to a belief, the lord Shiva is said to keep all the four quarters of Kashmir under His constant gaze. It is the reason that peak owes its name as Harmukh. On the Shravana Purnima festival, the Kashmiri Pandits, before their forced exodus, would also offer prayers at the temples of Somyar, Purshiyar and Sadashiva of Batyar in the downtown Srinagar. The festival also coincides with the ritual of Raksha Bandhan, which symbolizes the affectionate bonding between a brother and a sister. In Kashmir, it was known as Rakhdi instead of now more prevalent name Rakhi. These numerous legends and lores associated with the festival of Shravan Purnima, make the festival all the more pronounced and special for all of us.n

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Courtesy:  UPENDER AMBARDAR  and  Spade A Spade-August 2025