Vaishno Devi Temple

Maa Vaishno Devi Temple

Maa Vaishno Devi is a well- known goddess of India. It is popular by two other different names and i.e. Mata Rani and Vaishnavi. It is another picture of mother DURGA. The holy Hindu temple of India is Maa Vaishno Devi Temple. A number of devotees from India and abroad are attracted towards this temple as it is a saying that Mata Rani hears  every wish . The constant chanting of “Jai Mata Di” provides mental peace to the devotees. The doors of this shrine are open throughout the whole year. Its journey is difficult in winters as it is blocked by snowfall.

Maa Vaishno Devi Temple Location

The temple of Maa Vaishno Devi is situated in the Trikuta Mountain. It is positioned 61 km north of Jammu which lies in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. The monument of Vaishno Devi resides in a cave that is located in the lower Himalayas. The base camp for Vaishno Devi memorial is Katra i.e. the town at the foot of the Trikuta hills.

Maa Vaishno Devi Temple Myth

Chanddi up-purana is the container of the story of Maa Vaishno Devi. The sati maa’s body had been cut into 108 peethas by Vishnu Bhagwan in which 52 body parts fell down into the lap of earth and other 56 are placed onto the other planets. Planet Venus or Shukra has got the “Blessing Hand” of Goddess Sati. Planet Shukra is ruled by Goddess Lakshmi and hence it is also called as Goddess of Venus. When the period of Treta yug was started then a devil named as Mur has got the godsend that none of the human being, god, trinity andany one born on Earth would be able to kill him. During the war that had been taken place in between god and demon,Demon Mur rushed towards Lord Vishnu, who approached the place of shakti peetha of Goddess Sati on the Planet venus. Goddess paravati comes with a bodily appearance of a girl named as Kumari having the combination of two spirits i.e. Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati . The girl Kumari had killed the demon at the place where he was running towards the lord Vishnu. She is known by the name of “Trikuta”, “Vaishnavi” etc.

Since the childhood she had gained the depth of knowledge andabandoned the household comforts and went to forest for Tapasaya (meditation).

Lord Rama had also gone to forest for his fourteen years of exile. There she met Lord Rama and recognize him as not a common man but the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. At that moment she asked him to get herself to be merged into his soul. At that time Lord Rama had refused to do so as that was not correct time but he had promised her to meet again after completing the exile and conquering the battle and that time she would have to again recognize him.

After completion of his exile and battle winning he completed his promise and thus had taken the appearance of an old man but she was unable to recognize him. He solaced her that it is not the right time to be united with the creator. The right time would be the Kalyug during which he would appear as KALKI. He also directed her for meditation and putting up an ashram at the bottom of Trikuta hills, so as to achieve the highest level of spirituality and to serve mankind by eradicating the sufferings of poor people and the after merging of Vishnu into herself would take place. Vaishnavi had done the same as she was directed by him. As predicted by Lord Rama her glory was spread far a wide.

Mahayogi Guru Gorakshnath once visited bhandara arranged by Mata Vaishno Devi along with his 300 disciples and the purpose of visit was to shower His blessing upon Devi (which makes Her popular far and wide even today). One of his disciples Bhairavnath wanted to test powers of Mata Vaishno Devi, despite Guru Gorkashnathji not recommending to do so. To escape Bhairavnath she moved to the Trikuta mountains to continue her meditation undisturbed.

He chased her and thus he was destructed and about to be killed by her but he realized his fault and recapitulate his mission and asked her to forgive him. She had put a mercy on him and gave him a boon every devotee would have the darshan of Bhairon after darshan of her only then the yatra would be completed. She had decided to abandon her human form and get converted into the appearance of rock. Therefore she had taken the form of a five-and-a-half-foot-tall rock with three heads or the Pindies on the top.

Maa Vaishno Devi Temple Yatra

Katra is the starting point of yatra which is 3 km of terrain on foot to reach the Mandir. There is entire route of 13 Km. The path is cleaned and swept time to time. Restaurants and shops are available for the yatris for refreshment. After crossing 6 KM there comes the holy cave named as Adhkawari where Mata meditated for nine months. There is arrival of Sanji Chhat after 9.5 KM which is meant for the purpose of taking rest and accomodations are also provided there. For approaching the bhawan the distance of 3.5 KM has to be crossed.

Maa Vaishno Devi Temple Darshan

Bhawan is an entrance place of cave where parshad is available. There is a long queue for darshan. The darshan of mata is done by mean of token system. Token reveals the group no. and the time for the Yatri’s turn.

Maa Vaishno Devi Temple Aartis

The arti is done two times a day, one at the morning during sun rise and one at the evening during sun set. The completion of aarti takes the time of 2 hours. At the time of aarti the entry of Pujaris, Sahayaks and an officer is allowed.

Thus, the darshan of Vaishno Devi provides purification of spirit and therefore it is also called as “Ma Ka Saccha darbar” where removal of sorrow and pains of common man takes place.