Jammu, July 4
While the last year’s controversy of “fake” ice lingam at the Amarnath shrine had not yet died down, a fresh one has surfaced this time with a CD showing some unauthorised pilgrims and security personnel tampering with the ice lingam resulting in its early melting.

It was after several years a fully formed 12 feet tall ice lingam had appeared in the cave shrine in south Kashmir. However, it vanished on July 1 when the pilgrimage officially started.

More than 50,000 pilgrims had unauthorisedly reached the shrine even before the pilgrimage officially began. Some of them could be seen in the CD embracing the ice lingam and lighting candles just near it. The CD also has shots of some devotees trying to press coins ino the ice lingam and sprinkling water on it.

The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) headed by Governor S.K.Sinha, has blamed the state government and the security agencies for the lapse.

Some TV channels were telecasting the CD throughout the day to explain how the ice lingam melted so soon. The CD was reportedly filmed by a pilgrim from Punjab several days ahead of the official commencement the pilgrimage.

SASB chief executive officer Arun Kumar, who is also secretary to the Governor, said the security personnel appearing in the CD would be identified and action taken against them. Protection of the ice lingam was duty of the state government and security agencies.

The police should not have allowed anyone to proceed to the cave shrine before the official commencement of the pilgrimage, he said.

A large number of devotees reach the shrine every year before official commencement of the pilgrimage and fiddle with the ice lingam in the absence of representatives of SASB.

Last year it was alleged a fake ice lingam was set up in the cave when some of such visitors did not find the naturally formed image.