JOURNEY TO THE VAISHNODEVI TEMPLE

Its awsome beauty, The Vaishnodevi cave in Jammu is a natural attraction for the tourists as well as the devotees.Last 29th of March we began our journey.Actually we dont know till the 11th hour where to go.When we were at the bus stand then we decided to go to vaishnodevi. We sat on the bus at 6pm and reached there at about 3 am.On the way we met a punjabi guy,A great minded guy. He oftenly goes there atleast once in a month,So we got a guide also.Then we got the same hotel room and started the journey at about 6 in the morning.Its necessary to take a yatra slip from the counter there,free of cost.Then we took a stick for support and had the breakfast also.We met an another guy also.We four completed the journey of about 12 km and 5200 ft high.Everybody's condition was so bad,but surprisingly I was fully fit after the 24 km journey.The view from the place was just awesome.

The Holy Cave of the Mother is situated at an altitude of 5200 ft. The Yatris have to undertake a trek of nearly 12 km from the base camp at Katra. At the culmination of their pilgrimage, the yatries are blessed with the Darshans of the Mother Goddess inside the Sanctum Sanctorum- the Holy Cave. These Darshans are in the shape of three natural rock formations called the Pindies. There are no statues or idols inside the Cave.
The first mention of the Mother Goddess is in the epic Mahabharat. When the armies of Pandavs and Kaurvas were arrayed in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjun, the chief warrior of Pandavs upon advice of Sri Krishna; meditated upon the Mother Goddess and sought Her blessings for victory. This is when Arjun addresses the Mother Goddess as ‘Jambookatak Chityaishu Nityam Sannihitalaye’, which means ‘you who always dwell in the temple on the slope of the mountain in Jamboo’ (probably referring to the present day Jammu).

It is also generally believed that the Pandavs were the first to build the temples at Kol Kandoli and Bhawan in reverence and gratitude for the Mother Goddess. On a mountain, just adjacent to the Trikuta Mountain and overlooking the Holy Cave are five stone structures, which are believed to be the rock symbols of the five Pandavs.

Perhaps the oldest reference of the visit of a historical figure to the Holy Cave is that of Guru Gobind Singh who is said to have gone there via Purmandal. The old foot track to the Holy Cave passed through this well-known pilgrimage centre.

Some traditions believe this Shrine to be the holiest of all Shaktipeeths (a place where the Mother Goddess, the Eternal Energy has Her abode) since the skull of Mata Sati fell here. Others believe that her right arm had fallen here. But some scriptures do not agree with it. They do agree that at a place called Gandarbal in Kashmir, the right arm of Sati had fallen. Nevertheless, in the Holy Cave of Shri Mata Vaishno Deviji, one does find stone remains of a human hand, popularly known as Varad Hast (the hand that grants boons and blessings).

We came back at 5pm and came back to hostel at 5 next morning.Although the journey was a fantastic experience for us.