Baba Barfani : Pilgrimage to Paradise

ॐ होऊ जौं सह ॐ त्रियम्बकम याजामाहे, सुगंधिम पुष्टि वर्धनम |
उर्वरुकमिव बंध्नात, मृत्योर्मुख्शिय माम्रितात ॐ सह जौं होऊं ॐ ||

Many people of India especially devotees of Lord Shiva have a dream of pilgrimage to holy Amarnath cave in Kashmir. It is an adventurous as well as scared journey. It is our belief from very early period that if yatra path will be as much as difficult the fruits of pilgrimage will be rewarding accordingly. I also had a dream of this holy yatra from my childhood. My daddy had done it 31 yrs before in 1979. He used to describe yatra details and his experience among his friends many times. The curious part of his narration was the difficulties arises in the route and how it were overcome though resources, facilities and assistance from Govt. & non govt. organizations were very limited in those days. His description sparked a lit in my childhood mind and I often used to dream for yatra since then. But it is our firm belief that until and unless the divine calls, one will not be able to attend him un-hindered irrespective of all favorable circumstances. Even the most beautiful thought will not make progress unless we have constant will for them through nobler feelings, more exact sensations & better actions.


My dream came into reality in july, 2010. My several times prayer at “Trayamkeshwar” (Nashik), “Sri SAI Nath“  (Shirdi), “Shanidev” (Shignapur), trekking to “Bhimashankar” and fourteen times “Kanwaryatra” from Sultangunj to “Baba Baidyanath”Deoghar (Jharkhand) were considered by GOD ‘Ashutosh’, Favorable situation came to me to accomplish Amarnath Yatra.


It was widely advertised through electronic as well as print media that “Ice Shiv Lingam” at Amarnath had formed in 18  feet high shape this year. Therefore yatra period would be for almost two months, i.e., from 1stjuly to 25th August 2010. So large number of people from every corner of the world got inspired to take benefit of this opportunities. Among more than hundred crores of people in India, only a few lacs think about this arduous pilgrimage. In that lacs, only a few thousand become lucky or say graced by ‘Baba Bholenath’ to perform the yatra. Most of the people hesitate to launch this arduous pilgrimage to imagine difficulties and unsafe conditions in the route. It is good proverb that “seek opportunity not security. A boat in a harbor is safe, but its bottom will rot out in time.” Hanumanjee took all opportunity to do the work of his divine master and became successful in each and every challenge. That’s why he became the most popular and respected God of India. To visit Amarnath is the best form to pay homage to our Divine Lord Shiva.

There are two trekking routes for holy cave. One starts from Pahalgam which is 48 kms to cave but now a days trekking starts 12 kms ahead from chandanwari (36km) which takes 3 days to reach the cave. Second route is from Baltal. This route is steep climb of 16 kms to the cave, which is very tiring and exhaustive. So people prefer the traditional Pahalgam route. We planned our upward journey from Pahalgam and return via Baltal route.