Shiva chose a cave in a remote area where there was no one else, to share with Parvati the secret of immortality. However, a pigeon's egg lay protected beneath the deerskin on which Shiva sat while he was in samadhi. To this day, the pair of pigeons that emerged from this egg is believed to hover around the cave, now called Amarnath Cave, where pilgrims offer prayers to the linga-shaped ice formation after a long yatra.

- Ajit Hari Sahu