VAISHNO DEVI JI MANDIR
AT
JAMMU & KASHMIR
Vaishno
Devi Mandir is one of the Holy Hindu temples dedicated to Shakthi and located
at the Trikuta Mountains within the Indian state of Jammu &Kashmir.
The
Yatra to the Holy Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji is open throughout the year. The
summer months of May, June and July and the festival period of Chaitra (spring)
and Sharad- Ashwin (Autumn) Navaratras and New Year vacations witness peak
rush.
As
a result of this rush, devotees have to often wait for 12-20hours before having
Darshan. It is therefore strongly adviced, that for comfortable, quick and
satisfying Darshan, the period of peak rush must be avoided.
The Trikuta
Mountain where the Shrine is located and the Holy Cave are the gateway to the
dimension of Super Consciousness. And just like the Trikuta Mountain, which is
one at the base but has three peaks (hence the name Trikoot), the revelation of
the Mother Goddess in the Holy Cave is in a natural rock form which is one at
the base but has three heads at the top.
These three heads
in a natural rock form are known as the Holy
Pindies and are worshipped as the revelation of the Mother Goddess.
The entire rock body is immersed in water, and a marble platform has now been
constructed all around.
The main Darshans
remain to be of the three heads called the Holy Pindies. The uniqueness of the
Holy Pindies is that although they emanate from one single rock form, each one
is distinctly different from the other two in colour and texture.
Towards
the right of the devotee is the Holy Pindi of Mata Maha Kali (the Supreme
Energy of Dissolution) in the colour associated with Her i.e. black.
In
the centre is the Holy Pindi of Mata Maha Lakshmi (the Supreme Energy of
Maintenance) with a yellowish-red tinge, the colour associated with Mata
Maha Lakshmi.
The
Pindi to the extreme left of the viewer is worshipped as the Holy Pindi of Mata
Maha Saraswati (the Supreme Energy of Creation). It has a whitish tinge when
looked at attentively.
Yatra
parchi or registration slip is an important document during the Vaishno Mata
darshan. It acts as a documentary permission of SMVDSB that the person/s can
precede towards the Bhawan. So the pilgrims should always keep their slip with
themselves properly.
Devotees can also
book their advanced registration slip from the website of Shrine Board. The
registration slip is given free of cost at YRC - Katra but if you make an
online booking for the slip it will cost you ` 50 for each person,
which is beneficial during the rush hours.
In order to
receive it, the visitor has to register his/her name along with the total
number of companions. One Yatra Parchi can contain a maximum of 9 family
members. If you have more members then take another slip. For those people who
have arrived in large groups can take separate registration slips for each
family.
Once you reach the Bhawan then Mata's Darshan is allowed in groups. You will need the Yatra parchi to avail your group number from the check-post at the Bhawan. So do not misplace the registration slip as you will be turned back without darshan and other disciplinary actions might be taken by the order of Shrine Board.
The one way distance to the temple is around 35 kms considering which takes around 6-7 hrs on foot, 3.5 hrs on horse and 20 mins by helicopter to reach 5 kms before the temple.
