Historically, the worship of Shivalingam has been a very popular
religious practice in Kashmir. The same stands corroborated by
Kalhan Pandit who in his monumental work, Rajtarangini, makes a
mention of ‘vateshwar’, an ancient Shiva-lingam worshipped even
in his lifetime. A king of Kashmir, Ravana, (1000 B.C)worshipped
it as it was believed to predict future occurrences & events
through the light emanating from the Sri-cakra engraved on it.1
The king was so devout in his worship of the Shiva-lingam that
he consecrated the entire valley of Kashmir to the Math where-in
he worshipped the Shiva-lingam.2 The Mahadev Peak, Dyaneshwar
lingam &Sureshwar lingam, known as svayambhu lingams, have been
objects of worship for the Hindus of Kashmir. In fact, the
interiors of Himalayas possess numerous such lingams & Hindus
reverently call them Shiva-dhams. Pilgrimages to the Shiva-dhams
have been a regular feature without interruptions. The ancient
cave of Amarnath known for its icy-lingam that is naturally
formed has been