Maa Vaishno Devi Mandir The extra ordinary spectacular beauty of nature is especially exposed in the Hindu pilgrimage centre of Vaishno Devi at Jammu in India. A trip to Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu is considered to be a journey to Heaven for one’s Spiritual Redemption. Vaishno Devi is a pilgrimage centre dedicated to Goddess Shakti Matha. The notable feature of this holy shrine is that most of the visitors to this place are Hindus. Vaishno Devi is one of 108 shakthi peeta in India. The tourists from all over the world come to Vaishno Devi, not only as pilgrims but also as nature’s lovers. This is said to be the second most visited shrine in India after Tirupathi Tirumala, where Lord Sri Venkateswara dwells, as it is the Bhu Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu. All classes of populace irrespective of the fact they are rich or poor, young or old, sick or healthy do come and climb the challenging trek from Katra till the shrine. What you may do is just join a group climbing to the cave and feel the divine vibration running through your head though your body is perspiring all through with hot breath while cool breeze is fanning your body by the grace of Mother Goddess Vaishno Matha. We see the groups move on singing songs in praise of the goddess until they reach the peak. You will have a remarkable experience to trek the mountain without feeling the pain of legs or knees. It is said Mother goddess will sooth the devotees climbing the hill in search of her. So when the goddess herself is taking care of your well being you will not encounter with any trouble on the way at all. You may see many devotees like you climbing with silent prayers within themselves apart from those singing songs and dancing as they feel at their fancy. You will certainly enjoy this if you are a good and silent observer of what is going on around you particularly when you are mounting up the hill of about 13 km distance from Katra to Bhavan, which is at the altitude of 6200 feet. If you are tired you can sit for a while and relax at the tea stalls and Dhabas along the way. You may rest a while there. While so mounting and resting or casually sitting on the way have a look around the place and enjoy the scenic beauty around you and feel the cool air soothing your body. Thousands of devotees visit Vaishno Devi temple to seek blessings of the Goddess. Vaishno Devi is considered to be the incarnation of all the three Goddesses namely Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Kaali. The cause of action for the incarnation of Goddess Vaishno Devi was to kill the demon named Bhairon. After being killed the demon Bhairon Nath repented for his sinful acts and begged for forgiveness. She pardoned him and on his request she said that every devotee who came to worship her has to first visit the temple of Bhairon Nath and then visit her shrine. Otherwise Vaishno Devi yatra will not be complete and such devotee will not get any boon from her. After completing her task she left her human body and become a rock statue and went into meditation. Thus what we see is the three rocks cut statues in the 100 feet long cave. In that the middle one represents Goddess Lakshmi, right side statue represents Goddess Kaali and left side idol represents Goddess Saraswathi. Thus there are three idols in temple explicitly of Maha Saraswathi, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kaali and that all the three icons put together called Matha Vaishno Devi. You have to pass through a narrow passage in this curvy cave. It is said that it is the replica of mother’s womb and any one passing through the passage is compared to the foetus coming all the way through the mother’s womb as an infant. In other words when you pass through this passage, it is deemed that you have taken rebirth from the Mother’s womb. Smt Indira Gandhiji, the late Prime Minister of India was an ardent devotee of this deity and a regular visitor. In fact the Helipad on this hill was first made to facilitate her frequents visits to this shrine. She always used to pass through the passage in the cave and took darshan of Mathaji. Now a days a separate passage is made avoiding the passage probably because of unimaginable increase in the strength of visitors. The Vaishnodevi temple is situated in Jammu of Jammu and Kashmir state in India. The temple is at about 12 km from Katra in the Udhampur district. The temple is situated at an altitude of 1615 m on the Trikuta Hills of Shivalik Range. You may visit it at any time of the year, but avoid winter for it will be extremely tough due to the excessive snowfall. This place of pilgrimage is about 48 km from Jammu airport and Jammu Tawi rail station. Both these are connected to all parts of the country. From there you can reach Katra Bus stand by taxi or bus. This is the starting point to trek the mountain to reach Vaishno Devi temple. The height of the hill is about 5200 ft altitude from sea level. It is a fairly steep climb to the shrine. If you are unable to walk due to age or health reason you may take the services of ponies or Doli (palanquin) who will take you for darshan. However be alert on your own and take a yatra slip from the Yatra registration counter in Tourism centre at the Katra bus stand and that is compulsory for your trip. Pack all necessary items like caps, shoes and a stick from the counter to support trekking during your sojourn. As soon as you reach the Bhavan, show your yatra slip and get a batch number from registration office there. You should preserve the number with you to know your position in the queue for Darshan. You have to deposit all your offerings at the entrance of the cave and collect the prasad on your exit without fail. There is another important part of the history of this shrine. The famous Sikh Guru Gobind Singh had visited this Cave of Vaishno Matha using what is said as Purmandal for his visit. There are sufficient indications by way of old foot tracks passing through the Holy Cave, which turned out as a prominent pilgrimage centre at present for She has demonstrated herself in the form of Vaishno Devi. From Delhi you can take the train for Jammu Tawi and from there go by bus or taxi to Katra, which is at 45 km from Jammu. A rail link from Udhampur to Katra is available. The nearest airport is Jammu Airport where you will get flights frequently. You will get accommodation at Jammu and get accustomed to the style of tasty food available there. Be a Roman while you are in Rome. But here be a Kashmiri while you are in Jammu & Kashmir region in India. Good luck and happy journey to get the divine bliss.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:40:36 +0000
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