Vaishno Devi temple is considered as one of the holiest
pilgrim centers in the country. It is the second most visited temple in India
which is dedicated to Goddess Shakti also called Mata Rani. It is believed that
Mata Vashino Devi calls you to visit her. My husband had some office work in
Delhi and I had a Mannat that I will take my son to Vaishno Devi Temple before
he turns 5.So I used to always blabber that whenever we go to Delhi we will
plan to visit the temple. We never had luck but this time Mata called us and we
were there to meet Her and get blessed by her divine glance.
Since everything was last moment we had a real tough time
with ticket booking. We reached Delhi on Thursday and after finishing my
husband office work we took Metro to reach Delhi Railway station. At 5 0' clock
in the evening we took New Delhi-Jammu Tawi Rajdhani Express. We reached there
by early morning 5-6 AM. Don’t know, how much sleep we might have taken, but it
was enough to keep us in good spirit. Seats were comfortable and although we
were needed extra bed-sheets to counter the cold due to AC, but it was
comfortable journey.
Cell Phone Network is an important issue. Prepaid
connections dies out as soon as you enter Katra. Only sustaining connection is
Postpaid. My Vodafone was postpaid so it was still alive.
After reaching Katra since it July month it raining heavily.
Somehow through our umbrella and raincoat came out of the station and took an
Auto who charged 150 Rs to reach Ginger Hotel(which we pre-booked).In between
we took Yatri Parchi from the booth. You can ask the Auto people. They are very
well aware about the place. It takes 10 mins to get the Parchi. This Parchi is
valid for 6 hours. Daily rental of the Ginger hotel was 2000.We were lucky that
we got a family room with two double beds at the same rate. We reached hotel
Friday morning at 7 o' clock.We rested for sometime then took bath and started
getting ready to start our journey to have visit MATA RANI.I did shopping for
Prasad and chaddhawa before reaching the temple.
You may get the ticket online as well. Moreover, if you are
coming by plane, then at airport, you may get priority pass as well. I also got
to know that why this Yatra Parchi is important. It includes a 1 Lac INR
insurance cover in case of majors and 25k in case of minors. Moreover, the
obvious aim is to keep the crowd controlled coz it’s a limited mountain
resource, which can’t hold things beyond certain natural limits. If want to
know additional details about this parchi, then check this article.
It was raining. Our rain coats were our saviours. There were
counters selling rain coats for Rs. 10-15/-. With a little rest in between,
enough washrooms and tea-coffee stalls and shades in way.
To reach Bhawan you have 4 option.
1.Trekking-7-8 hrs one way
2.Pony/Horses which takes 4-6 hrs
3.Helicopter Rs. 2000 one way
4.Palki which is for old people.
In Bhawan I didn't faced any long Queue .It was almost
hurdle free. You will be not allowed to carry anything including cell phones
and purse. You are required to keep everything in Locker. Carry money and
Prasad and move forward enchanting "Jai Mata Di". As you enter Bhawan
you will feel immense peace. Give your prasadam to the priest and have Mata
glance. Darshan from inside was pretty fast as it was in form of continuous
moving queue. Took only 25 minutes inside the Bhawan. Then we stopped near Sagar
Ratna Restaurant to have food. Food was no doubt very yummy. After food we
started to march for destination.
We reached Hotel and not to say we were very tired. Stayed a
day to take rest. Had food in Ginger Hotel. Then we started for Jammu with
taxi. Taxi guy was good and charged 1300 for 50 km. In between we stopped to
have food. Our train was from Jammu at 5 0' clock in 1st AC. Next day we
reached Delhi and had a flight from there to Bangalore.
Though the trip was quiet hectic but I can bet you that you
will have an immense pleasure and peace of mind that you have completed a
wonderful trip of Vaishno Devi Temple.After visiting temple you will get a
feeling how much people love Mata Rani.To have her glance they struggle so
much. Some walk bare foot also. I got many goose-bumps seeing their devotion. My
son is a small boy of four but he thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I was very
tensed that we will really have a tough time doing this trip. But we are going
to visit MATA who always provides comfort for her kids. We not only completed
our trip successfully but also without any last minute hassles. Jai Mata
Di...May God bless you all with good health and spirit.
