Word: cave
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...worst outbreak of sectarian violence since the 1947 Partition that created India and Pakistan. The party has been at the forefront of Amarnath controversy in Jammu, and with its announcement that it will undertake nationwide strikes over the issue, it is set to make Shiva's cave a presence in the general elections...
High up in the stunning Kashmir Valley lies a natural cave called Amarnath, where stalagmites form during the summer months. Devout Hindus believe this cave to be one of the holiest sites of their religion, and that the largest of the ice formations is a Shiva Lingam, the symbol of Lord Shiva. Hindu mythology has it that Shiva - the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity that includes Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver - imparted the secrets of creation to his consort, Parvati, in Amarnath. Each year, during the months of July and August, hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims from...
...only trouble at the cave used to be that the Shiva Lingam would melt before the greater part of the throngs could arrive to pay obeisance (The stalagmite does wax and wane with the seasons but some blame premature melting on global warming, others on heightened human activity near the shrine). However, for more than two months now, this small, 150 ft high and 90 ft long cave has been the center of a raging communal and political storm in the state of Jammu and Kashmir - one that has divided the Hindu and Muslim populations of the state...
...cave is a gigantic challenge to managing the logistics of the pilgrimage - not only is it perched 4,000 meters (12,000 ft) above sea level where rain, snow and landslides are common, it is also plunk in the middle of the insurgency-ravaged Kashmir Valley. And with ever greater numbers of pilgrims coming in (so far this year, over 500,000 pilgrims have already visited) the government reasoned that more temporary shelters were required. And so on May 26 the ruling Congress-led government of Jammu and Kashmir decided to divert 100 acres of forest land to erect such...
From there, the ice cores are taken to the "cold room," a hollowed out cave about 6 m below the surface, where drillers will carve the cores in sections, to be bagged, tagged and eventually flown back to the Center for Ice and Science in Copenhagen, where they will be fully analyzed. The work is done underground to make sure the ice stays stable - though we're far above the Arctic Circle, with the open sun the temperature is only -6 degrees or -7 degrees C, though the wind can make it feel worse on the open snow. The sprawling...