Pilgrimage – tirtha – is a unique Indian civilisational institution that has fascinated and propelled people over the ages. The current issue of further curtailing the period of pilgrimage to the sacred shrine of Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir is an occasion to revisit this institution of pilgrimage and to see it within the Indian spiritual, cultural and civilisational framework. This paper seeks to examine the current issue centering on the Amarnath yatra, argues for the Yatra’s historicity and antiquity and briefly studies the multiple dimensions of the institution of the tirtha itself with reference to Hindu metaphysical formulations and calls for the need to develop an imaginative and innovative national approach to this ancient and resilient Indian institution.

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