Shiv Khori: The holy cave housing Swayambhu Lingum and 33 crore deities
Jammu, June 10: Jammu has been blessed by the God with abundance of holy places all over the region helping it to find a place in the higher echelons of pilgrim tourism circuit.
Be it the world famous Mata Vaishnodevi or a lesser known Mata Mahamaya the God has showered it with all his love and blessings in the form of such holy places and caves.
Among these world famous holy places is Shiv Khori cave, the cave that has a great legend behind it and houses a Swayambhu Shivling and 33 crore Deities of Hindus religion.
Introducing the cave the Shivkhori.org writes “Famous cave shrine of “Shiv Khori” situated in District Reasi of J&K state depicts the natural formation of Shivlingum. It is one of the most venerated cave shrines of Lord Shiva in the region. The Holy cave is more than 150 mts long & houses 4 feet high Swayambhu Lingum, which constantly baths in a milky lime fluid dripping from the ceiling. The cave is full of natural impression & images of various Hindu Deities & full of divine feelings.”
There is a huge article on the cave in wikipedia too that indicates its importance world over in general and Jammu and India in particular.
The information it provides says that Shivkhori is a famous cave shrine of Hindus devoted to lord Shiva as in Reasi district; there are many shrines such as Mata Vaishno Devi, Merhada Mata, Baba Dhansar, Siad Baba etc.
Shiv Khori is one of them located in Ransoo a village in the Pouni block in Reasi district, which attracts lakhs of devotees annually. Shiv Khori is situated in between the hillocks about 140 km north of Jammu, 120 km from Udhampur and 80 km from Katra. Buses and light vehicles go up to Ransoo, the base camp of pilgrimage. People have to traverse about 3 km on foot on a track recently constructed by the Shiv Khori Shrine Board, Ransoo duly headed by the District Development Commissioner, Udhampur as chairman and Sub Divisional Magistrate, Reasi as Member Secretary.
Khori means cave (Guffa) and Shiv Khori thus denotes Shiva’s cave. This natural cave is about 200 metres long, one metre wide and two to three metres high and contains a self made lingam, which according to the people is unending. The first entrance of the cave is so wide that 300 devotees can be accommodated at a time. Its cavern is spacious to accommodate large number of people. The inner chamber of the cave is smaller.
The passage from outer to the inner chamber is low and small, at one spot it divides itself into two parts. One of these is believed to have led to Kashmir where Swami Amarnath cave is located. It is now closed as some sadhus who dared to go ahead never returned. To reach the sanctum sanctorum, one has to stoop low, crawl or adjust his body sideward. Inside a naturally created image of Lord Shiva, about 4 metres high, is visible. The cave abounds with a number of other natural objects having resemblance with Goddess Parvati, Ganesha and Nandigan. The cave roof is etched with snake formations, the water trickles through these on Shiva Lingam. Pigeons are also seen here like Swami Amar Nath cave which presents good omens for pilgrimages.
A number of legends have propounded about the discovery of this holy cave. One of the most important legends among them is that a demon named Bhasmasur after a long meditation of Lord Shiva obtained blessing to end the life of any one with that blessing. After obtaining it, the said devil tried to end the Lord Shiva-On seeing the evil design of the demon, the Lord Shiva run to save himself from the power of the demon and entered in this cave which is presently known as Shiv Khori. After this, Lord Vishnu in the guise of Mohini came forward and asked the demon to dance with her according to her tune. As and when the demon started dancing as per the actions of Mohini, the said demon took his hand at his head and with his own power, he was himself destroyed. As per the legend, 330 million deities exist in this cave in shape of pindis and natural milky water is falling on them from the top of the cave. In this cave there is also a cave which directly go to amarnathji according to a saint who lived there named as Baba Ramesgiri Ji
As per the other legend regarding discovery of this cave is that the historic Shiv Khori cave is believed to be discovered by a shepherd. He was in fact in search of his missing goat and went by chance inside the cave to find the same. However he was very much startled to see a number of saints inside the cave, who were impressed by Lord Shiva’s divine power and he too started pooja there. Later on the shepherd disclosed this to a number of other people in spite of his promise made with the saints not to disclose about them or this cave. It is said that the shepherd after narrating it to other people had died. According to the legends it is believed that a number of famous saints have been closely associated with this cave, who had spent decades inside this cave for spiritual attainment and meditation.
About 40 to 50-year ago, only a few people knew about the Shiv Khori shrine but it has gained much popularity during decades. In earlier times the number of yatries was just in thousands but after the constitution of Shiv Khori Shrine Board during December 2003, the number of devotees has superseded previous records as the number of devotees is increasing by the day.
A 3-day Shiv Khori mela takes places annually on Maha Shivratri and thousands of pilgrims from different parts of the state and outside visit this cave shrine to seek blessings of Lord Shiva. Maha Shivratri festival is usually held in the month of February or during first week of March every year.
To meet the ever growing rush of devotees in having smooth darshans of the Lord Shiva, an exit tunnel has been constructed by the Shri Shivkhori Shrine Board.
Recently, the management and development of the Shiv Khori has been taken over by Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board who is looking after Vaishno Devi pilgrimage.
The cave is one of the famous pilgrim tourist spots of Jammu and is expected to be another Mata Vaishnodevi Ji and Amarnath Ji kind of pilgrimage places in the times to come. (Compiled with inputs from wikipedia and shivkhori related sites)