CALL FROM VAISHNODEVI

CALL FROM MA VAISHNODEVI

The Call of Mata... The journey to the Holy Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji starts with the Call of Mata. It is not only a belief but also a strong experience of one and all that the Divine Mother sends a call to her children. And once a person receives it, wherever he is, is bound to visit the Mother to receive Her unbounded love and blessings. A popular slogan in the local folklore beautifully expresses it- Maan Aap Bulandi - which means that The Mother Herself Calls! It is also a matter of experience by almost all those who visit the Holy Shrine that upon the Call of Mata, a person needs to just take one step and leave the rest to Her and his journey gets completed with Her divine blessings. Simultaneously, it is also believed that unless there is a call or Bulawa no one can visit the Shrine or have Her blessings, howsoever high or mighty one may be.

The belief is true as experienced by us. We have been thinking of paying a visit for quite some time but considering the rather difficult journey, kept on postponing it. Finally we decided to make it and in on September18 called the travel agent to book our tickets from Delhi to Jammu for October 19 and return on 21 by Delhi Jammu Rajdhani. He informs that while tickets on 19^th are available but return tickets are not available until end October by Rajdhani. We asked him to check other trains and he replied in negative. We therefore decided to postpone it for next year. After about 10 minute the travel agent called to say that tickets are available on 22^nd October by ‘Duranto” a train recently started by the Railways of which he could not recollect then. We confirmed our acceptance and the tickets were delivered next day. We take it as a ‘CALL FROM THE MOTHER’. Others too must be having similar experiences that establishes this belief and makes stronger.

We, myself and my wife boarded Rajdhani on 19^th October evening at 20.40hrs and reached Jammu at 0530 hrs on 20^th. A bus journey from Jammu took us to Katra in about 2 hours. We checked in Hotel Bhawani International, had our bath and breakfast and proceeded on our journey. For the benefit of those interested I give below the details.

1. Got ourselves registered at ‘Yatra registration center’ (a must).

2. Took auto to Banganga, got our Yatra slip stamped.( a must within 6 hrs of issue of yatra slip)

3. Hired pony at Rs 520/ each after some bargaining for the uphill journey of 13 Kms. (Though there are fixed rates but I am not sure if authorities are in a position to enforce them) Pony ride while going uphill is not as bad as the ride coming downhill. In any case it is tiring for seniors like us. There is Pawan Hans Helicopter service from katra to Sanjhhi Chhat but that is quite expensive. We were told that cable cars are likely to be built in near future.

4. Uphill journey started at 1220 hrs. and we reached the Bhawan (Holy Shrine) at about 1500 hrs.

5. Generally there are 25000 daily visitors at an average during this time of the year. On peak times the numbers go up to 40000.

6. We wanted to attend the Aarti at 1800 hrs (Aarti is done twice a day once in the morning immediately after sunrise and the other in the evening immediately after sunset). We were lucky to be among those admitted for the Aarti. The Aarti is relayed live on Shradha Channel. Phone, camera, knife, pen, belt, leather purse, shoes etc are not permitted inside the Shrine and therefore must be kept in the locker provided by the Board free of cost.

7. After the Aarti we were guided to proceed to the Sanctum sanctorum through a 200 meter long tunnel have the darshan of the Holy Pindies in rock stones 1.Mahakali in black at the center, 2.Mahalakshmi in Yellow tinge at the right and 3. Maha Mata Saraswati in whitish tinge at the left. Black is the symbol of Tama, Yellow the Rajas and white the Satva. It is interesting to know that these are no Murties as such. Besides entry from the front is limited to non-peak months of Jan and Feb when the visitors are not more than some 8000 daily. The cave is narrow and it is difficult to handle if visitors are pouring in. For peak times the tunnel is used.

8. After the Darshan ‘Prasad’ is handed over and visitor are guided to visit the Shiva cave also located just a few steps below.

9. It is desirable to visit the Bhaironath Temple situated at the hill top just 1.5 km uphill. We hired ponies again for return journey to Katra via Bhaironnath Temple at Rs 700/- each. At about 9 PM and reached katra Hotel at about 12 mid night. Complete details are available on www.mavaishnodevi.org. Credit must go to the Shrine Board for managing the whole affairs in very proficiently. The roads are well lit to handle visitors 24x7. There are resting places and food joints at every 2 km.

10. Next day we left for Jammu in the afternoon and checked in Neel Top Hotel in the city. In the evening we visited Raghupati Temple. Jammu is known as a city of temples. There are 8 big and small temples.

11. Next day we visited Amar Mahal, the official residence of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Karan Singh who mostly lives in Delhi. Jammu and Kashmir was founded by his great grandfather Maharaja Gulab Singh in the 17^th centuary. Part of Amar Mahal is converted into a museum depicting the Kangra Art Paintings and other paintings of the Maharaja. One part is converted into a 5 Star Hotel.

12. We took the evening train nonstop ‘Duranto’ to Delhi that brought to Delhi early next morning.

The Shrine is situated at about 1900 meters height above sea level. The scenic beauty is worth remembering. During the night throughout the return journey the whole atmosphere looked like someone had sprayed some perfume which was nothing but the enchanting scent of Rat Ki Rani. This plant flowers after sunset and the scent can be felt in the night. That is why it is called Queen of the Night.

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