Amarnath Temple
Amarnath Temple is Located in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and 
situated on Mount Amarnath, the Amarnath caves are one of the most famous shrines in Hindu. Dedicated to the god Shiva, the shrine is said to be over 5,000 years old. The shrine forms an important part of Hinduism. The cave is surrounded by snowy mountains. The cave itself is covered with snow most of the time except for a short period time in summer when it is open for pilgrims.
Inside the 130 feet high, south facing Amarnath cave is the Shiva Linga, which waxes during May to August and gradually wanes thereafter. This lingam is said to grow and shrink with the phases of the moon, reaching its height during the summer festival. Two other ice formations represents the Parvati and Shiva’s son, Ganesha.
The cave is situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 141 km from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The Central Reserve Police Force, Indian Army and Indian Paramilitary Forces maintain a strong presence in the region for security concerns.
There is no authentic information about the discovery of the cave. The credit of discovery goes to a shepherd (Gujar) Buta Malik, it is said that he was given a bag full of coal by a saint. When the shepherd opened to see in his house it was a bag full of gold. The happy shepherd went back to thank the saint but there he found a cave with a lingam inside it . Then onwards this place has become the sacred place of Pilgrimage .Another legend says that Kashyap a sage drained the lake of Kashmir and found the cave along with the lingam in it. Hindu mythology says that this Amarnath cave is the cave which was used by Lord Shiva to tell about the secret of life and eternity to Goddess Parvati. He was looking for a secret isolated place to tell this “amar katha” to goddess Parvati. So he selected this cave. And as a preparation he left his vehicle Nandi, the bull in Pahalgam (Bhail Gaow), released the moon at Chandanwari, snake at Lake Sheshnag, Lord Ganesh at Mahagunas parvat, five elements of life at Panjitarni. Finally he created Rudra (Kalagni) and ordered him to set afire and eliminate every living thing in and around the holy cave. Then Lord Shiva took Parvathi Goddess inside the cave to tell the amar katha. It is a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus – about 400,000 people visit during the 45-day season around the festival of Shravani Mela in July-August, coinciding with the Hindu holy month of Shravan.