The stalagmite, which forms and recedes annually in a cave 4,100 metres above sea level in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, is believed to be the place where Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration, revealed the secrets of life and eternity to his wife, Parvarti. And for more than 200 years, millions of pilgrims have travelled to the Amarnath Shrine, as it’s known, to worship the ice structure.

The stalagmite normally lasts the duration of the cave’s two-month pilgrimage season, usually during July and August. This year, it has completely disappeared primarily because of the high volume of people visiting it, many of whom carry candles.

‘[The cause is] body heat of the huge crowds at the formation,’ said Shakeel Ahmed Ramshoo, head of the Geology and Geophysics Department at the University of Kashmir.

October 2007