Vaishno Devi
Vaishno Devi, a holy cave shrine situated at an altitude of over 5000
feet in a beautiful recess of the Trikuta mountains forming a part of
the lower Himalayas attracts a huge number of pilgrims every day of the
year unless the route is blocked by snowfall.Within the cave are ancient
images of three deities, the Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati.
Popular belief holds that anybody who walks up to the shrine of Vaishno
Devi to ask for a boon rarely goes back disappointed. There are many who
journey here year after year to pay obeisance, regardless of their faith
or belief, creed or class, caste or religion, for Mata Vaishno Devi
transcends all such barriers.
'Vaishnavi' means the one who is related to lord "Vishnu''.
Goddess Vaishnavi is the manifestation of the collective spiritual
strengths of Mata Maha Kali, Mata Maha Lakshmi and Mata Maha Saraswati.
It is described in Durga Sapatshati that the goddess was born as a young
girl of extraordinary beauty and strength, out of the collectively
pooled 'Tejas' of various 'Devtas' and three lords Brahma, Vishnu and
Shankar. The immediate purpose of the creation of the goddess was the
annihilation of Asura (Devil) Mahishasura. However another purpose of
her creation was that she might usher on earth an era of pious and
ascetic life so that the peace could prevail upon the world and she
through her penance could rise to higher levels of spirituality and
ultimately merge with Vishnu.
Nestled in snow-capped mountains and forests of Trikuta mountain
forming a part of the lower Himalayas in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
from Katra to the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. Remember keep
chanting 'Jai Mata Di'!'darshan' is not complete until Bhairav temple is
visited on the way back.
Getting There
Jammu is connected by train to all major states of India. It is about
1314 hour’s rail travel distance from Delhi. From Jammu, the
visitors have to proceed by bus up to Katra. The journey is about 2
hours through zigzag roads cutting across many hill-locks. The pilgrims
enjoy traveling by bus as many picturesque places fall in between Jammu
& Katra. The distance between Jammu & Katra is about 52
kms. From Katra onwards the pilgrims have to travel up to shrine on foot
or by horse/pony. The shrine is located in the mountains at a
distance of 14 kms from Katra. Healthy person travel the entire route in
4 hours. It is essential for every visitor to obtain a Yatra-Slip from
the tourist-reception centre, Katra. No payment is to be made for slip.
Pilgrims who proceed further, without obtaining slip, have to return
back from Ban Ganga. No pilgrim is allowed to travel beyond
Ban-Ganga without yatra slip.
