Shivkhori is a prominent cave shrine of Hindus devoted to Lord Shiva, located in Reasi tehsil of Udhampur district. Udhampur houses numerous shrines like, Mata Vaishno Devi, Sudhmahadev, Pingla Mata, Mahamaya Chountra Mata, Merhada Mata, Baba Dhandar, Siad Baba. Shiv Khori is one of them located in the village Ransoo of Pouni block in Reasi, that attracts thousands of devotees every year. It is situated on a small hillock about 140km north of Jammu, 120km from Udhampur and 80km from Katra. Buses and light vehicles go up to Ransoo, the base camp of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims have to traverse about 3km track on foot, which has recently been constructed by the Shiv Khori Shrine Board, Ransoo, headed by the District Development Commissioner, Udhampur as chairman and Sub Divisional Magistrate, Reasi as Member Secretary.

Khori means `cave` (guffa); Shivkhori thus refers to Shiva`s cave. It is about 200 metres long, 1 metre wide and 2-3 metres high natural cave that contains a natural lingam (swyambhu), which according to the people, is endless. The first entrance to the cave is so wide that 300 devotees can be accommodated at a time simultaneously. It is actually double chambered, which is quite spacious to accommodate large people. The inner chamber of the cave is smaller. The passage from outer to inner chamber is low and small; at one point it divides itself into two parts. One of these is believed to head for Kashmir, where Swami Amarnath cave exists. It is now however closed as some sadhus who defied going ahead, never returned. To reach the sanctum sanctorum, one has to crouch low, crawl or bend his/her body sideward where a naturally created image of Lord Shiva, about 4 metres high, is visible. The cave abounds with a number of other natural objects bearing semblance to Goddess Parvati, Ganesha and Nandigan. The cave roof is engraved with snake formations, and water trickles through these on the Shiva lingam. Pigeons are also seen here in Shivkhori like the Amarnath Caves which represents good omens for pilgrimages.

Just as the other antique temples reverberate in legendary stories, likewise, Shivkhori also has its own share of legends. The crowning story of Shivkhori associates with a demon named Bhasmasura. After a prolonged meditation of Lord Shiva, Bhasmasura obtained the boon to end the life of any one with that power. But, paradoxically, the demon tried to end the life of the Lord Himself. On seeing the evil design of the demon, Shiva ran to save his life from the power of Bhasmasura and entered this very cave, presently known as Shivkhori. After this, Lord Vishnu in the mask of Mohini (one of the 25 avatars of Vishnu) came forward and asked the demon to dance with her according to her tune. As and when the demon started dancing as per the rules of Mohini, Bhasmasura put his hand on his head and with his own power destroyed himself. According to legend, 33 crore deities exist in this cave in shape of pindis and natural milky water cascades down from the top of the cave.

Another legend speaks of a Muslim shepherd who discovered the Shivkhori cave. The shepherd was in fact searching his missing goat and went inside accidentally to find the goat. Nevertheless, he was very much taken aback to see a number of saints inside the cave, who were blessed with Lord Shiva`s divine power and he too started his puja there. Later on the shepherd disclosed this piece of information to a number of other people in spite of his pledge made to the saints not to disclose about them in the cave. It is believed that a number of celebrated saints have been closely associated with Shivkhori cave, who had spent decades inside the dark cave for spiritual realisation and meditation.

An interesting trivia about Shivkhori is that about 40-50 years ago very few bunch of people knew about the cave; but with time it has gained considerable importance, especially in the last few decades. Earlier times saw a footfall of `yatris` (pilgrims) in 1000s, but today the number of devotes has risen to almost 3 lakhs (300,000), after the Constitution of the Shiv Khori Shrine Board in December 2003. A 3-day Shiv Khori Mela takes place on Maha Shivratri, when thousands of pilgrims from different parts of the country visit the shrine to seek blessings of the Lord. Maha Shivratri is usually held in the months of February-March every year.