94 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MlR. [Extra No. 2, 
At its northern end and close to the great snowy peak already 
Tirtha of mentioned, is the Tirtha of Amaresvara or 
Amaranatha Amaranatha, known by its Kasmiri name as 
Amburnath, Together with the sacred Gaiiga- 
lake on Mount Haramukuta, it is now the most popular of Kasmirian 
pilgrimage places. Its Yatra in the month of Sravana attracts many 
thousands of pilgrims not only from Kasmir but from all parts of 
India. 1 Their goal is a cave situated at a considerable altitude and 
formed by a huge fissure on the south side of a snowy peak, 17,300 feet 
high (marked ‘Ambarnath’ on map). In this cave there is a large 
block of transparent ice formed by the freezing of the water which 
oozes from the rock. It is worshipped as a self-created ( svayambhii ) 
Liiiga, and is considered the embodiment of S'iva-Amaresvara. 
Judging from the scanty references made to this Tirtha in the 
Rajataraiigini and the Nilamata, it appears doubtful whether it could 
have enjoyed in old times quite such great celebrity as now. But 
Jonaraja already relates a visit to this sacred site paid by Sultan 
Zainu-l-‘abidiu, 2 and in the Mahatmya literature Amaresvara receives 
its due share of attention. The pilgrims’ route described in great detail 
by the Amaranathamahatmya ascends the valley of the eastern branch 
of the Lid a r or Ledari. 
There the lake of the Naga Susravas, now known as Susramnag 
or (with a popular etymology) S'esanag, is visited at the north foot of a 
great glacier descending from the Kohenhar Peak. In this lake and 
a small rock-bound inlet of it called Jamatrnaga (ZamHur 1 Nag), the 
local legend, related by Kalhana, i. 267 sgrq., and connected with the 
ancient site of Narapura, has placed the habitation of the Naga Su¬ 
sravas and of his son-in-law. 3 The route then crosses a high pass, known 
as Vav a jan (Skr. Vayuvarjana in the Mahatmya), into a high-level valley 
drained by five streams which bear the joint designation of Panca- 
taranginI. From there the pilgrims toil up a lofty spur to the north¬ 
east and descend into the narrow gloomy valley which lies at the foot 
of the Amburnath Peak. It is watered by a stream (Amaravati) 
which comes from the glacier of a still higher peak to the east. 
Joining the Paiicatarangim it flows through an inaccessible gorge down 
to the head of the Sind Valley near Baltal. 
1 See for the old notices of the Tirtha, Rdjat. i. 267 note ; for a description of the 
modern pilgrimage, Vigne, Travels , ii. pp. 10 sqq., and Bates, Gazetteer, pp. 121 sq. 
2 Compare Jonar. (Bombay ed.) 1233 sqq. 
3 Compare Rdjat, i, 267 note. 
