Author: Prerna Katiyar
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: April 1, 2007
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1841486.cms?epaper
It's everyone's dream to visit the holy shrine
of Vaishno Devi once in lifetime. For the believers, it's a spiritual journey.
And surprisingly even non-believers throng the place curious to find out what
is it that pulls the masses to its fold every year. Well, for me it was sheer
excitement of taking a weekend break and the pleasure to visit a holy place
with my family.
In all, it's a 13-km trek from the base station
Katra. At a distance of 1 km from Katra is Banganga. To cross this point,
you need a registration slip that can be obtained from the Yatri Registration
Centre (YRC) near the Katra bus stand. You also have the option to get it
online. This slip has to be shown while entering darbar too which determines
your number in the queue for darshan.
Vaishno Devi is located in the Trikuta mountains
at a height of 5,200 feet, about 61 km north of Jammu city. We chose to cover
the trek on foot. If you aren't feeling physically fit, you have the option
of covering the winding path via palanquin, the pony or the helicopter.
That's right. You have the option of reaching
the darbar via flight (How do you think most VIPs and politicians manage to
get to the 'top' , on their foot?) . It's a delight to see the departure and
arrival timing of flights for the shrine which says, departure 11:00 am, arrival
11:05 am. But the real adventure lies in taking a little pain and going en-masse
on foot.
The enthusiasm among the devotees is mind
blowing . After covering about 9.5 km, there is a place called Sanji Chhat,
which is primarily a resting area. Taking a few breaks and not missing a cup
of coffee at Café Coffee Day (It's even there! In fact, there
are two outlets on the way); we hardly felt any pain when we actually got
to the 'bhawan' . And the Shrine Board has done a terrific job by making arrangement
for food, cloakroom, accommodation and changing room available at affordable
prices.
The instruction in the cave requested devotees
not even to mumble when inside, but the crowd, who was so overwhelmingly charged,
hardly bothered. And in the tussle of pushes, came the chants of "Jor
se bole (Jai mata di), aage wale (jai mata de), peechhe wale (jai mata de)
... " And while I was struggling to find the ground beneath my feet,
literally, I saw two men on duty standing who turned me to show the real abode
of the Devi. I had barely finished paying obeisance to the Devi, in the form
of three pindies on a natural rock, and realising that now I too belong to
that 'genre' who have had the Devi Ke Darshan , alas, my turn was over and
I was asked to move on as others behind were desperately waiting for their
turn. That was fair enough.
Legends say that the Darshan is not complete
until you visit the Bhairon Nath temple which is at a distance of about one-and-a-half
km, atop an adjacent hill. So, we too decided to make it the last leg of our
visit. Our return journey was a smooth one as we opted to hire pitthus (pony),
feeling a bit tired by now. Just one last bit about the trip. Don't miss the
langar that is served on your return to the base station and it tastes even
better as the satisfaction in your heart of making it to the 'top' makes it
all the more delectable!
