We started from Delhi to Jammu late evening and reached Jammu by train the very next morning. We got refreshed and by the evening we reached Katra and started padyatra for vaishno devi temple situated at Trikuta hills 12-14 kms far away. It takes atleast 4-5 hrs. Old and disable who desire to go for paidalyatra can take even 10 hrs. There are many pitthu (who carries babies and luggage on his back), tattu (horses), palki carried by local people and helicopters to take you to the destination. Palki starts from 2500 Rs depending on the weight of the person. Two way journey by helicopter is approx. 5000 Rs. Many rest areas to get refreshed for further journey. Mostly you get snacks and chawal , razma,sometimes puri sabzi for your increasing appetite as it’s hard to walk on the hilly roads. Many check-points in between the journey and you are checked with your luggage. At last we reached Manokamna bhawan. Now the the holy divine mandir of Mata was in front of us . But the legs and the whole body was paining severely. We felt like not even going one step forward. Pyar se bolo Jai Mata di and we reached at the entrance point of mandir. No luggage are allowed inside so we had to leave our luggage the
re and again a long queue was waiting for a glimpse of Vaishno Devi. With the grace of devi maiya we reached the holy cave in which three stones of Ma Laxmi, Durga and Kali are kept with golden crown on top. We were overwhelmed by Devi darshan. We just wanted to sit there for sometime and say something to Ma, but no time as long queue is waiting behind you desperately from far away places. Many foreigners were also there for darshan. Behind the ‘asan’ of Ma there was waterfall and with the lovely sound of water we came down the steps. Now the cave is quite spacious and well maintained with white tiles. After darshan we got halwa prasad and a silver coin with mishri. We were told to keep it in our money bags so that we get blessed with happiness and wealth. It was dark so we rested there for some hours and in the morning we decided to go back Katra by horse riding. It was a tedious journey as we had no prior experience. 250 Rs is the fixed price for 2 hrs horse riding to Katra. We stayed in
a hotel in Katra. There are many hotels and they are well equipped with all the delicacies and comfort. We stayed there at night and went to Riasi 30-40 kms away. We reached Sinhar baba waterfall for sight seeing. It’s a religious place and it is believed that if somebody takes bath in the lake area and wishes something with pure heart it gets fulfilled. Mostly women come here with desire for a baby and they get blessed. This is a very beautiful natural place to see and praise. The thin stream of water comes out from a great height and it becomes broader in the base area and creates fog all around. We got drenched in the water fog and our body and soul became quite cool calm and pure. Big lake is created with high velocity of water. Fresh white water from the fall looks like milk. We went for darshan in the nearby temple and started for Salal Dam on the Chenab river. The hydel power project on this river produces electricity not even for the whole Punjab but for Delhi too. Terrorism has done a huge loss to this state. No big industry is established here, so unemployment and poverty and that again aggravate terrorism. This is a vicious circle that has to be broken. Again article 370 says that anybody from outside the state cannot buy property in J&k.
So, lots of hindrances in development and that makes it tougher to handle terrorism too. It’s a fact that this state has more military than civilians to stop infiltration and terrorism from our neighborhood. But, “ panchhi, nadia , pawan ke jhoke koi sarhad na inhe roke.” If anybody fells in river Chenab he can not even swim because of strong flow and it throws you to the coast of our neighboing country.
Now we were way back to Jammu. There is a village in between called Agarito named behind bhakt Agarito. He used to go for 30 kms of hilly distance by padyatra everyday for darshan of Ma vaishno devi. He used to take food after that. Once he fell ill and could not go there and he prayed to Ma to come to him and bless him. Then Ma came at the place where his statue is still facing the temple for darshan.
We reached Jammu and we went to Pirkhoh Shiv mandir. Shivling is in the form of ekmukhi rudraksha. A cave in front of Shivling goes to Amarnath. It is told that Shri ram came here in search of Sita mata and met Jamvant. Then he went to Amarnath through the cave and when he came back Bhagwan Shiv appeared before him.
Last but not the least we reached Raghunath Temple in Jammu. Taitis(33) koti devata ka vas mana jata hai. The Sphatic Shivling is the world’s largest of it’s kind. It’s transparent so you can see through it. Pujari ji was giving us rudraksha as prasad. We sat there for sometime to feel the holy blessing of Mahadev Mahakal Shivshankar. We returned back to Delhi with the blessing of God and Goddesses. Natural scenic beauty of Jammu is still traveling in our mind to make us feel refreshed. I wish to go there again to stay there as long as I can.
re and again a long queue was waiting for a glimpse of Vaishno Devi. With the grace of devi maiya we reached the holy cave in which three stones of Ma Laxmi, Durga and Kali are kept with golden crown on top. We were overwhelmed by Devi darshan. We just wanted to sit there for sometime and say something to Ma, but no time as long queue is waiting behind you desperately from far away places. Many foreigners were also there for darshan. Behind the ‘asan’ of Ma there was waterfall and with the lovely sound of water we came down the steps. Now the cave is quite spacious and well maintained with white tiles. After darshan we got halwa prasad and a silver coin with mishri. We were told to keep it in our money bags so that we get blessed with happiness and wealth. It was dark so we rested there for some hours and in the morning we decided to go back Katra by horse riding. It was a tedious journey as we had no prior experience. 250 Rs is the fixed price for 2 hrs horse riding to Katra. We stayed in
a hotel in Katra. There are many hotels and they are well equipped with all the delicacies and comfort. We stayed there at night and went to Riasi 30-40 kms away. We reached Sinhar baba waterfall for sight seeing. It’s a religious place and it is believed that if somebody takes bath in the lake area and wishes something with pure heart it gets fulfilled. Mostly women come here with desire for a baby and they get blessed. This is a very beautiful natural place to see and praise. The thin stream of water comes out from a great height and it becomes broader in the base area and creates fog all around. We got drenched in the water fog and our body and soul became quite cool calm and pure. Big lake is created with high velocity of water. Fresh white water from the fall looks like milk. We went for darshan in the nearby temple and started for Salal Dam on the Chenab river. The hydel power project on this river produces electricity not even for the whole Punjab but for Delhi too. Terrorism has done a huge loss to this state. No big industry is established here, so unemployment and poverty and that again aggravate terrorism. This is a vicious circle that has to be broken. Again article 370 says that anybody from outside the state cannot buy property in J&k.So, lots of hindrances in development and that makes it tougher to handle terrorism too. It’s a fact that this state has more military than civilians to stop infiltration and terrorism from our neighborhood. But, “ panchhi, nadia , pawan ke jhoke koi sarhad na inhe roke.” If anybody fells in river Chenab he can not even swim because of strong flow and it throws you to the coast of our neighboing country.
Now we were way back to Jammu. There is a village in between called Agarito named behind bhakt Agarito. He used to go for 30 kms of hilly distance by padyatra everyday for darshan of Ma vaishno devi. He used to take food after that. Once he fell ill and could not go there and he prayed to Ma to come to him and bless him. Then Ma came at the place where his statue is still facing the temple for darshan.
We reached Jammu and we went to Pirkhoh Shiv mandir. Shivling is in the form of ekmukhi rudraksha. A cave in front of Shivling goes to Amarnath. It is told that Shri ram came here in search of Sita mata and met Jamvant. Then he went to Amarnath through the cave and when he came back Bhagwan Shiv appeared before him.
Last but not the least we reached Raghunath Temple in Jammu. Taitis(33) koti devata ka vas mana jata hai. The Sphatic Shivling is the world’s largest of it’s kind. It’s transparent so you can see through it. Pujari ji was giving us rudraksha as prasad. We sat there for sometime to feel the holy blessing of Mahadev Mahakal Shivshankar. We returned back to Delhi with the blessing of God and Goddesses. Natural scenic beauty of Jammu is still traveling in our mind to make us feel refreshed. I wish to go there again to stay there as long as I can.