Sunday, June 18, 2006

Be Careful What You Pray To

JAMMU, India, June 18 (Reuters) - Hindu pilgrims in India have sought action against authorities in Jammu and Kashmir state for forming an artificial stalagmite for them to worship after it failed to occur naturally at a Himalayan shrine. The sleight of hand was discovered last week when the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath, a cave shrine deep in the mountains in the disputed region, began after being delayed by heavy rains and snowfall. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus trek along a treacherous mountain path to worship a phallus-shaped ice stalagmite in the cave which they regard as a symbol of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. But this year, authorities had to form an artificial stalagamite from snow as the natural ice formation failed to show up in time for the start of the pilgrimage, Arun Kumar, head of the state-run Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, which administers the shrine, told Reuters.
I've got nothin'.

2 comments:

Mark said...

They are suing? I got nothin' either. Sheeeesh!

Lone Ranger said...

In that part of the world, you can never be sure what "sought action against" means.

Muslims look at this annual pilgrimage the way crocodiles look at the annual migration of the wildebeest. They have to have police lining the entire route to prevent Muslims from picking off Hindus.

I guess if I had to go through all that to worship an icicle, I'd be peeved too if it turned out to be lemon popsicle