Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra

A shrine that does not close, broken twice a day by an aarti whose timing follows the sun. The queue, the registration counters and the weather decide more of a visit here than any published hour.

The Shrine Board's own account of Vaishno Devi history centres on Pandit Sridhar, a poor Brahmin devotee from the village of Hansali at the foot of the Trikuta mountain. In the story the Board tells, the goddess appeared to him in a dream as a young girl and helped him hold a grand bhandara, or community feast, and later showed him the way to her cave. The Board says there is unanimity that the shrine was discovered by Pandit Sridhar around 700 years ago, and that inside the cave he found a rock form with three heads, the Holy Pindies worshipped today. Wikipedia, drawing on other traditions, places the revelation to Pandit Sridhar around the 10th century CE.

Wikipedia records older claims as well. The Mahabharata is said to mention Arjuna worshipping the goddess before the Kurukshetra war, with a verse referring to a goddess in 'Jambhu', read as ancient Jammu, and tradition holds that Guru Gobind Singh visited in 1672. The documentary record is firmer from 1846, when Maharaja Gulab Singh set up the Dharmarth Trust and the Vaishno Devi temple became part of it.

The hereditary Dharmarth Trust ran the shrine until 1986, when control passed to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board under the then Governor, Jagmohan. The Board has managed the shrine and the yatra since then, and now records more than one crore pilgrims a year. The original cave is about 30 metres long, and Wikipedia notes that artificial tunnels have been built alongside it so that the far larger crowds of today can have darshan of the Pindies; the Board says the original cave is still opened for darshan in winter.

Altitude

5,200 feet on the Trikuta mountain

Trek

Nearly 12 km from Katra

Darshan

Round the clock, all year

Deity

Three Holy Pindies, no idol

Managed by

Shrine Board, since 1986

Pilgrims

More than one crore a year

Why Vaishno Devi matters to Hindus

Vaishno Devi is worshipped as the Mother Goddess, and there is no statue or idol in the cave. Darshan is of three natural rock forms, the Holy Pindies, which the Board describes as manifesting the goddess in her three forms of Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati. The Board calls her the Mother who fulfils whatever her children wish for, and Wikipedia lists the shrine among the 108 Shakta pithas, sites dedicated to the worship of Shakti.

By legend, told by the Board, the goddess fled to the cave pursued by Bhairon Nath, a disciple of Guru Gorakhnath, and when he challenged her inside she took her divine form and cut off his head, which fell about 1.5 km away where the Bhairon temple now stands. That legend is why, as Wikipedia notes, a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi is traditionally considered incomplete without a visit to the Bhairon Nath temple above Bhawan.

The Board sets these out as binding on every pilgrim. Registration is the one that decides whether a yatra happens at all.

The Board publishes no dress code for the shrine. What it does publish is practical advice on clothing and footwear for a steep trek to 5,200 feet, and it is worth following.

• Heavy woollen clothing is needed in winter. For the rest of the year, light woollens are needed, because Bhawan stays cool at night even when Katra is hot and humid.
• Canvas shoes are advised. Fancy shoes make the track hard to walk, and footwear with flat or platform soles is recommended.
• Umbrellas and raincoats are needed in the rainy season.
• Blankets are available free of cost, so there is no need to carry them.

The Shrine Board is unusually direct about the best time to visit Vaishno Devi. It names the summer months of May, June and July, and the Chaitra and Sharad Navratras, as the peak rush periods, when pilgrims often wait 12 to 20 hours before darshan. It suggests the monsoon, with its waterfalls and greenery, and winter, when there is often snow and the original Holy Cave is open, as better times to go. As a rule of thumb it says a visit is more comfortable when daily numbers are below about 15,000 to 18,000.

Dress for the altitude whatever the season. Heavy woollens are needed in December and January, and light woollens the rest of the year, because Bhawan stays cool at night even when Katra is hot and humid. In the monsoon, carry an umbrella or raincoat and check Board and IMD advisories, since the yatra can be halted in heavy rain. Darshan itself runs round the clock, so the time of day matters less than avoiding the two aartis at sunrise and sunset, when darshan is paused for nearly two hours.

Tips before you go

• Register first and carry your own RFID Yatra Access Card; every pilgrim needs one and there is no charge.
• Cross the Banganga check post within 6 hours of the card being issued, or it is confiscated.
• Wear canvas shoes or flat-soled footwear for the steep track, and carry a walking stick if you need one.
• Do not pack blankets; the Board provides them free of cost.
• Leave shoes, belts and combs at the free cloak room opposite Gate No. 1 before entering the cave.
• Use only the designated tracks; shortcuts and unmarked trails are prohibited.

Two things decide how a Vaishno Devi yatra goes, and neither of them is a darshan timing: the registration system at Katra and the climb from Katra to Bhawan.

Why registration is compulsory

The Board explains that the Holy Pindies sit in a narrow cave where group visits are not possible, so darshan runs through a continuously moving queue and only a limited number of pilgrims can have darshan each day. It gives that limit as about 30,000 to 35,000. Registration is how it regulates the numbers on the track and at the shrine.

Registration also carries free accident insurance: Rs 3,00,000 for adults and Rs 1,00,000 for minors, valid only for accidental death and not for natural deaths including heart attacks. The Board names weekends in May and June, the second half of December and school and office holiday blocks as the times that usually bring waiting.

From Katra to Bhawan

The Board describes a trek of nearly 12 km from the base camp at Katra to the Holy Cave at 5,200 feet, and lists Bhawan at 13 km in its distance table, via Banganga, Charan Paduka, Adhkuwari, Himkoti and Sanjichhat. Bhairon Ghati lies beyond Bhawan at 6,619 feet.

An alternative track, opened in 1999, runs from just below Adhkuwari to just short of Bhawan. No ponies are allowed on it and it is 500 metres shorter than the old track. A battery vehicle runs on it, bookable for infirm, sick and disabled pilgrims at Inderprasth (Adhkuwari) and Manokamana Bhawan, subject to availability.