VAISHNO DEVI TEMPLE (INDIA)

INTRODUCTION:

Vaishno Devi is a very serene and religious place in India. It is located in Northern India in a town Katra, which is near Jammu. The shrine(temple) which is a CAVE is at altitude of 5200 feet and a distance of approximately 12 kilometers (7.45miles) from Katra, which is reachable through hiking up. Generally people wish something and after completion of their wish they visit this place with family or friends. It is situated in the lap of beautiful nature surrounded by mountains. You will find peace of mind and your heart will go in the deep thinking of god naturally. This is the magical effect of this place. It is believed that Goddess (matarani) calls devotees when she wanted and when you get such feeling, person should visit the place and Goddess will fulfill your wish.

PLACES TO VISIT:

ARDHKUNWARI Ardhkunwari cave is situated in between the way to Vaishno Devi (actually it is approx mid-point of complete hike). It is very well known cave because Goddess (matarani) took shelter in this cave when Bhaironath(devil) chased her. In this cave devotees have to pass through a very narrow passage, where your body will barely fit in. Generally people visits this cave before going to main cave (matarani durbar). .

VAISHNO DEVI MAIN CAVE (MATA KA DURBAR) The main cave of Mata Vaishno Devi is having two paths, usually when crowd is more after evening man-made created path to cave is opened. Otherwise when it is not that crowded then natural path which is very small and narrow is open for devotees.

When Bhaironath tried to kill mata, the goddess came to main cave and cut bhaironnath‘s head and thrown it to BhaironGhati. And after doing that mata took shape of a rock with three dieties(pindis) Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi, Maha-Saraswati and immersed herself into meditation forever. These deities are naturally found and not artificially created.

BHAIRONGHATI Bhairoghati is the place where Bhaironath head fell when goddess killed him its 2.5km from main cave. It is believed that, far from the main cave when Bhaironath was dying he pleaded for forgiveness, the goddess knew that his main motive was not to kill her but he wants salvation so she not only granted Bhaironath liberation from the cycle of reincarnation but also granted him a boon that a yatra to Vaishno Devi will not complete without paying visit to Bhaironath’s temple. The way to this temple is very steep, and horse is recommended to everyone, until and unless you are young and very fit OR determined to go by foot regardless of pain.

HOW TO REACH:

Once you made up your mind to visit the most sacred and beautiful place Vaishno Devi, first and the foremost task is to do a booking of train, because usually from Delhi you need 1 month buffer to book train tickets (in AC). Our recommendation would be to book a super fast train, if possible Rajdhani, it will be convenient and will take less time if you compare with other trains. Usually most super fast trains starts in late evening from Delhi and will reach Jammu Tawi station next day morning.

CLICK TO BOOK TRAIN TICKETS AND CHECK AVAILABILITY

After reaching Jammu Tawi you can take a bus or private taxi to Katra. Generally bus charges Rs 50/- approx. per person and taxi will charge Rs 800-1000 for approx 6 persons. Our recommendation is bus if you are less than 5 or 6 because taxi needs 6 people to make it full. Even if you are 6 Bus is better than taxi, because you can sit comfortably and is more safer than taxi. After reaching Katra, you can take breakfast (or some snacks) and if you already have yatra parchi (if you booked online) then you can take an auto to Ban Ganga, it will be approx Rs 50 for 4 people. Once you reached Ban Ganga, that is the base point of hiking uphill to cave of Goddess (Mata ka Durbar).

Now you have to choose between 3 options:

1) If you are young and have no issues is hiking for 13 km then you can go by foot.

2) If you are old or not sure whether you have enough strength, then take a horse (called as Poni). It will be approx Rs 250 from start till mid-point which is Ardhkunwari and 750 for complete from start till Main Cave (Bhawan).

3) If you are very old OR having serious trouble that you cannot sit on Horse then take a Palenquine (Palki), which is carried by 4 persons. They will charge Rs 2800 for round trip.

PS: If you want to take Helicopter ride to visit Mata Vaishno Devi then it starts from Katra and normally charges are Rs.1400 for one side and Rs.2800 for round trip. It is must that you book it prior to your visit, there are 2 options

1) Pawan Hans

2) Deccan

CLICK TO BOOK

Our recommendation for people who are little dicey if they can hike up or not is that take Horse (Poni) from start till mid-point (ArdhKunwari) because that is the steepest part of hike and for rest it is OK to walk on foot.

Also please note all these rates are non negotiabale because it is fixed by Shrine Board. But you can try your luck as everyone tries that.

HOTELS(Yatri Niwas):

This is the most important part of Yatra (Hike). There are various options like staying in Jammu, Katra commercial/government hotels. But since we are sharing our practical experience with you, we stayed at all places and felt that for this yatra (hike) person needs stay only once they reach the top (main cave), because they visit mata’s durbar and want to stay for sometime like night (or 1 day) in holy environment. So, book the bhavan which is owned by shrine board and you have to book in much advance in order to get space. For booking online, you have to book exactly 30 days prior to day of travel and space will be full within 30 mins they open it at 12:00AM for booking online.

CLICK TO BOOK ONLINE

If you are planning before 30 days (or 1 month), which is best then send a letter with date of reservation and a draft in name of “Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Broad” at following address:

ADDRESS (Please confirm the address):

Dy. Mananger
Enquiry and Reservation Office
Shakti Bhawan, Niharika Complex (Near Bus Stand), 
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, 
Katra - 182301 
J&K 

Now there are 3 Bhavans from which you can choose:

VAISHNAVI & GAURI BHAVAN It is the best place to stay on the Bhawan complex. You have options of double bedded, four bedded and six bedded rooms @ very normal prices (500/700/1000).

MANOKAMNA BHAWAN It has per bed basis dormitory charges are Rs.80 per bed.

MANGLA BHAWAN This is on Sanjhichat which is also not too far from durbar of matarani (1 km). It has two bedded and four bedded rooms @ Rs.500,700.

In all these bhawan complex you will find restaurants and food shops very near and you can also enjoy the night view of matarani's durbar(main cave), which you cannot forget as it is so pure and spiritual calm feeling that will be completely missed if you live in Katra or so.

SEARCH HOTELS:

PS: Do not forgot to buy yatra parchi online. It will be more easy for you otherwise you have to be stand in long queue which will be more painful and time sucking too.

CLICK TO BUY YATRA PARCHI (HIKE PASS) ONLINE

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

You can explore some other things in Jammu:

WALNUTS are the very famous nuts which are cheap and best quality in Jammu so do not forget to buy walnuts from Jammu (if possible in bulk), its very cheap in rate in Jammu instead of other parts of India. Kagaj Akhroat (Paper Walnuts) are the best quality of walnuts, as names suggests they are easily broken.

ARTHRITIS HERBS is one very effective herb found in mountains here and it is available generally in shops when you hike down from cave you will see them, these are of yellow color and effective for joint pain. Bargain as normally price is Rs.30 per 100gm.

ALMONDS which are having natural oil and original quality of Jammu. It is believed that Jammu almonds are even better than almonds from California.

EMBROIDERY As you know kashmiri embroidery is very famous, so if you have some time then go to Jammu market and see Kashmiri embroidery on stuff like Shawl, Kurti, Ponchu, Woolens. Kashmiri embroidery stuff looks very beautiful when you wear, it is also believed that it is a weakness for Indian women, so if you want to gift it to Girlfriend/Wife/Mother/Daughter then this is the best option.

ITEMS REQUIRED:

These are the items which are very much required during your trip: Toiletries, Water bottle, Medicines(like pain killer/vomiting/headache/fever), SunGlasses, Cap, Comfortable hiking shoes, some food items(snacks), Beg which you can easily hang on your shoulder (should be light in weight), Woolen clothes, Woolen cap, Gloves, Torch, Towel, Sunscreen lotion.

USEFUL LINKS:

Vaishno Devi Helicopter Ticketing Services and Travels in India
- VDHTS provides you affordable and cheap service in tour package, Vaishno Devi yatra, Amarnath Yatra, helicopter darshan, Shirdi Yatra and aircraft charter services. We also provides affordable tour package in all over india, helicopter darshan for Amarnath and Vaishno Devi

HAVE A NICE TRIP (JAI MATA DI)