Omkar Dattatray
The Aap Shambu temple located at Sathrian (Roop Nagar ) Jammu is an ancient temple which is much popular and the devotees visit this temple throughout the year .But there is rush of pilgrims in the temple on Maha Shivratri .The temple houses a natural Shiv Lingam which is seen half and the other half is under the earth .This natural Aap Shumbu temple is of much attention to the people and attracts the pilgrims throughout the year. The Shiv Ling is not manmade but is natural and thus is frequented by a large number of devotees especially on Mondays, Amavasya and Purnimashi.
According to a legend ,in the times immemorial this entire place was an uninhabited jungle ,the milky cows and buffalos used to come to the Lingam after grazing and shed entire milk on the Shiv Lingam. There is heavy rush of devotees on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. As the name indicates ,there Lord Shiva appears as self manifested. The temple in the past comprised a remote ,obscure and a ordinary shrine ,but has been turned into a piece of good and pleasant architectural design. The Aap Shambu temple has an immense popularity among people and it turned into a shrine of great attraction being frequently visited by the people. The shrine is every year decorated with colorful buntings, pandals, Kanata before Shivratri and the temple gears for the thousands of people on this auspicious day for having a glimpse of the natural Shiv Lingam .A large number of devotees pay visit to this shrine on Maha Shivratri and eve otherwise ,people pay obeisance to Lord Shiva on the normal days and seek blessings from Shiva who is called as Ashtoosh for his being pleased with a small Bhakti .On the Maha Shivratri ,there is great rush of the pilgrims and people are seen waiting in long ques for having a turn to have the Darshan of the Shiv Lingam .In good olden days ,the devotees used to carry water with them from long distances and they traversed distances and traveled through jungles and bushes to finally offer water ,flowers ,milk to the Shiv Linga and seek blessings .In those days ,the people from nearby Muthi ,Paloura and other places used to come to this shrine to pay obeisance to Shiva and seek blessings from the Lord Mahadev .In those old days it was an arduous journey to travel to this place and have the darshan of Lord Shiva .But today with the efforts of the management committee ,there is every facility at this shrine and people easily reach this place and have a glimpse of Shiv Lingam .The shrine has a picturesque location on the western side of Roop Nagar and the Channore locality is seen from this shrine .The main attraction of this shrine is the sacred spot where Pindi is manifested .There is a Svaymbu Lingam and the popular belief is that it does not like to be covered and therefore the main shrine is open and there is no roof on it .It has on one side an old bush of Akk and on the other side Garana tree .There are other trees of various varieties which add charm and beauty to the temple .The management committee performs an annual yagya on Maha Navami in honor of goddess Durga and also on Maha Shiv Ratri to propitiate Lord Shiva and Prasad is distributed among the people .Kashmiri Pandits in large numbers visit this shrine ,pay obeisance and seek blessings from Shiva .Some KP’s are the regular comers to this temple. .The additions of small temples had been made by the management committee and as such there are small temples of Ganesh ,Goddess Durga ,Hanuman and other Hindu deities .There is an idol of sitting Nandi facing the Pindi .There is also an Amar Jot which keeps burning all the time .The story goes that a Gujjar who was living nearby Sathrian ,noticed that there was no milk in the udder of his buffalo which along with other animals went for grazing in the nearby jungle .He became suspicious ,that someone was stealthily milking his buffalo ,he followed the buffalo and was shocked when he found that while other cows and buffalos were grazing ,his buffalo came to the particular stone ,stood still ,and started releasing milk on the pindi .The Gujjar became curious and angry and tried to break the stone with axe. .The stone started bleeding and the Gujjar was terrified and turned blind .On returning home ,his house turned into ashes .According to the flock lore ,the Gujjar and his entire family suffered a lot and finally the Gujjar died and misfortune befall his family .On hearing this story ,Maharaja Partap Singh came here and was very happy to see Lord Shiva in the form of Pindi .He wanted to shift the Shiv Lingam to some other place from the desolate place and he ordered that it be shifted ,but the Linga could not be excavated .To the surprise of everyone ,the area which was dug during the day got filled in the night .This went for some days and when the matter was reported to Maharaja ,he taking it as a wish of the Lord decided to make a temple at the same spot .But in the dream Lord Shiva told him that jungle is the natural abode of Lord ,the king decided not to build any structure and let the Pindi remain as it is .Since then the Aap Shambu Linga is being worshipped in its original form. Besides the regular comers ,the temple witnesses a congregation of devotees during Navratri when Haven is performed on Navami and people partake Prasad .On all Sundays ,all night puja is held to propitiate lord and seek blessings from the God .In short the Aap Shumbu temple of Roop Nagar has become a people’s shrine as it has been developed by the management committee without any help from the government and this shrine is a place of our great heritage and culture .Let Aap Shambu remove all obstacles and bestow blessings to the people .May this temple awaken our real self and illumine our bodies and soul .Again may we keep visiting the Aap Shambu temple in future to seek His blessings .May Lord Shiva bring peace ,tranquility and prosperity to Jammu and Kashmir and to the whole of India.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).