Amarnath Ice Shivling Melts 90 Percent Within Four Days Of Yatra 2026, Pilgrims Alarmed
Amarnath Ice Shivling Melts 90 Percent Within Four Days Of Yatra 2026, Pilgrims Alarmed
Srinagar, July 7 : The naturally formed ice Shivling inside the holy Amarnath cave has melted by nearly 90 percent just four days after the Amarnath Yatra 2026 began, leaving thousands of pilgrims worried and heartbroken.
Photographs shared from inside the cave shrine on Monday show the sacred ice formation, lovingly called Baba Barfani or the Lord of Snow, reduced to a fraction of its original size. The images have spread quickly across social media, triggering anxiety among devotees who are still on their way to the shrine.
This year's Yatra began on July 3, with more than 4 lakh devotees registered for the pilgrimage. Large crowds gathered in the Kashmir Valley from the very first day, and pilgrims have been rushing toward the 3,880-metre-high cave in the hope of having darshan before the ice lingam disappears completely.
The Amarnath Shivling is a natural ice stalagmite that forms every year inside the cave when water droplets freeze during the winter months. Devotees believe it represents Lord Shiva, and its waxing and waning has been recorded for centuries. The pilgrimage season is timed so that devotees can see the lingam at or near its full height.
That is what makes this year's rapid melting so alarming. In earlier decades, the ice formation would stand tall through much of the pilgrimage, sometimes reaching 12 feet or more. This year, within the first week, very little of it remains.
"We came with devotion but now fear the Baba may melt away before many can see him," a pilgrim who travelled from outside the valley told reporters at the cave shrine. Many devotees have appealed to the authorities for regular scientific monitoring and honest updates about the condition of the lingam.
Officials have not yet released any formal explanation for the sudden melting. However, the incident has revived a serious public discussion about rising temperatures in the Himalayas and their impact on sacred ice formations and fragile high-altitude ecosystems.
Climate experts have long warned that Himalayan glaciers and seasonal ice features are highly vulnerable to global warming. According to local specialists, unusual warm spells, changing wind patterns, or shifts in the microclimate around the cave can all speed up the melting of seasonal ice structures. They have urged the authorities to carry out proper measurements at the cave site so that short-term weather effects can be separated from long-term climate trends.
This is not the first time the ice lingam has melted early. In recent years, the formation has repeatedly shrunk or vanished well before the Yatra concluded, a pattern experts say was rare two or three decades ago. Environmental researchers have previously called on the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board to consider shortening the Yatra duration, regulating pilgrim numbers, and controlling plastic waste along the route to protect the fragile ecology of the region.
The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, which manages the annual pilgrimage, is currently handling registration, logistics, and crowd control for the roughly two-month-long Yatra. Security agencies are managing heavy footfall at transit points and base camps across the valley.
The early melting also creates practical challenges for Yatra managers. They must now balance the wishes of lakhs of devotees seeking darshan with safety concerns inside the cave, where conditions can change quickly with the weather.
For now, pilgrims continue to arrive in large numbers, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever remains of Baba Barfani. Final turnout figures for Amarnath Yatra 2026 will be confirmed by the authorities later in the season.
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