Those devotees of lord Shiva who could not visit Amarnath this year can have a ‘darshan’ of ice lingam at Anjani Mahadev temple near Solang in Manali. The ice lingam here has started forming its shape due to the instant freezing of seeping water in extremely cold climate.
freezing point. Lingam gets its shape after drops of water from mountain fall
on earth and freeze instantly. Ice lingam would continue rising till March and
would attain its height upto 25 feet. According to nearby villagers, the lingam
was discovered by a saint some 25 years back and has a same importance for them
as has the Amarnath lingam.
“The mysterious
lingam was so close to us but it remained out of our sight for years. Now when
it has been discovered, it is the most divine place for us and thousands of
tourists who visit this temple,” resident of Burua village, Hira Lal, said.
According to him, the saint with the help of villagers has built a small temple
here and is the only Shiva temple of nine villages of upper Manali. “We
celebrate the unique Shivaratri here after pouring milk and Gangajal over the
ice lingam,” he added.
where devotees climb for hours, Anjani Mahadev is accessible only after 2km
trek from Solang, 13km from Manali. Devotees may see lingam till mid April and
then it melts away. Anjani Mahadev has become a popular tourist destination for
thousands of tourists. “We got to know only after reaching Manali that Solang
has an ice lingam similar to that in Amarnath and could not resist ourselves
reaching here. It is amazing, beautiful and divine,” a tourist from Delhi,
Vijay Shukla, said.
As the ice
lingam is attracting thousands of tourists every year, dozens of villagers are
earning good money after providing horse ride between Solang and Anjani Mahadev
temple. Now the temple has been included in must see tourist spots of the
Manali while villagers can be seen praying lingam all the day. The place is
slowly being renowned as “Chhota Amarnath”.
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