Jammu, August 26
The Mr Justice K.K. Gupta Commission today gave a clean chit to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), headed by Governor S.K. Sinha, in the controversy surrounding the formation of a man-made Shivlingam at the cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir.
The commission, that presented its report to the Governor, observed that “there was no tampering of any nature with the holy Shivlingam”.
The 90-page report said there was “no hand of any official of the SASB in the formation of artificial Shivlingam or tampering with it”.
The commission blamed the priests of Mattan for having formed an artificial Shivlingam to attract pilgrims at the time when pilgrimage was yet to start officially.
Justice Gupta attributed the delay in the formation of natural Shivlingam to global warming and receding of the glacier near the cave shrine by around 100 metres.
The one-man commission, which was set up by the Governor following controversy over SASB’s alleged hand in procuring dry ice from Delhi to form an artificial Shivlingam, observed that three barrels of dry ice were flown to the shrine to keep the temperature cool and to prolong the life of Shivlingam.
Some “mischievous elements” floated rumours that dry ice worth lakhs of rupees was brought from Delhi to make Shivlingam.
Justice Gupta took exception to the unnecessary blowing up of the controversy by a section of media.
He said the pilgrimage was hit due to the controversy, as against the expected five lakh pilgrims, only 2.91 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine this time.
Grenade attacks on tourists also created a scare among those who proposed to visit the shrine.
The commission suggested that helicopters should be allowed to hover over or near the cave to avoid noise and air pollution. The heat generated by helicopters was also responsible for early melting of the Shivlingam.
The helipad should be shifted away from the cave, the commission added.
The report said in view of the increasing number of pilgrims, the SASB should continue with its efforts to find a permanent solution to keep the cave cool so that the life of Shivlingam could be prolonged.
It recommended the setting up of a permanent base camp at Jammu for a comfortable stay of pilgrims proceeding to the Kashmir valley.
The commission also said the SASB should not charge Rs 12,500 as fee from langar operators en route to the shrine. They should instead be provided cooking gas, it added.
The report pointed out that Mahant Deepinder Giri, custodian of the holy mace and head of the Srinagar-based Dashnami Akhara, who raised a hue and cry on the Shivlingam issue, did not appear before the commission to record his statement despite being invited twice.
Justice Gupta pointed out that alarmed over the change in the natural phenomenon, the SASB had dispatched teams of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) and the High Altitude Warfare School to look into the causes.
A team of the SASE did not find any trace of Shivlingam on May 16, but on May 19 water started trickling from the roof of the cave to form the image.
The commission has appreciated the SASB for taking steps to ease the journey of pilgrims through the inhospitable terrain.
