Vaishno Devi Temple
Vaishno Devi Mandir is one of the holy Hindu temples
dedicated to Shakti, located in the hills of Vaishno Devi, Jammu and Kashmir,
India. In
Hinduism, Vaishno Devi, also known as Mata Rani and Vaishnavi, is a
manifestation of the Mother Goddess.
The temple is near the town of Katra,
in the Reasi district in the state of Jammu
and Kashmir. It is one of the most revered places of
worship in India.
The shrine is at an altitude of 5200 feet and a distance of approximately 14
kilometres (8.4 miles) from Katra. Approximately 8 million pilgrims (yatris)
visit the temple every year and it is the second most visited religious shrine
in India, after Tirumala Venkateswara Temple.
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board maintains the shrine. A rail link from
Udhampur to Katra is being built to facilitate pilgrimage. The nearest airport
is Jammu Airport which has very high flight
frequency. All leading domestic airlines have their services to Jammu Airport.
Significance
According to a Hindu epic, Maa Vaishno Devi was born in the
south of India
in the home of Ratnakar Sagar. Her worldly parents had remained childless for a
long time. Ratnakar had promised, the night before the birth of the Divine
child that he would not interfere with whatever his child desired. Ma Vaishno
Devi was called Trikuta as a child. Later she was called Vaishnavi because of
her taking birth from Lord Vishnu's lineage. When Trikuta was 9 years old, she
sought her father's permission for doing penance on the seashore. Trikuta prayed
to Lord Vishnu in the form of Rama. During Shree Rama's search for Sita, He
reached the seashore along with His army. His eyes fell on this Divine Girl in
deep meditation. Trikuta told Shree Rama that she had accepted Him as Her
husband. Shree Rama told her that during this Incarnation He had vowed to be
faithful to only Sita. However pleased with her devotion, Lord Rama gave her
name vaishnavi (devotee of lord rama (Maha Vishnu) and assured Her that in
Kaliyuga He would manifest as Kalki and would marry Her.
In the meantime Shree Rama asked Trikuta to meditate in the
cave found in the Trikuta Range of Manik Mountains, situated in Northern
India.Lord Ram gave her a bow and arrows, army of monkeys and a lion for her
protection, Ma decided to observe the 'Navratra' for the Victory of Shree Rama
against Ravana. Hence one reads the Ramayana during the 9 days of Navratra, in
remembrance of the above connection. Shree Rama promised that the whole world
would sing Ma Vaishno Devi's praise. Lord Rama also said Trikuta was to become
famous as Vaishno Devi and would become immortal forever.The adobe of Maa
Vaishno devi is attaining huge pilgrimage attraction due to Lord Rama's
blessings to the goddess.
With the passage of time many more stories about the Mother Goddess
emerged. One such story is about Shree-Dhar.
Shree-Dhar was an ardent devotee of Ma Vaishno Devi. He
resided in a village called Hansali, 2 km away from the present Katra town.
Once Ma appeared to him in the form of a young bewitching girl. The young girl
asked the humble Pandit to hold a 'Bhandara'. (A feast to feed the mendicants
and devotees) The Pandit set out to invite people from the village and near-by
places. He also invited 'Bhairav Nath' a selfish tantrik. Bhairav Nath asked
Shri-Dhar how he was planning to fulfil the requirements. He reminded him of
the bad consequences in case of failure. As Panditji was lost in worry, the
Divine girl appeared and told Him not to be despondent as everything had been
arranged. She asked that over 360 devotees be seated in the small hut. True to
Her word the Bhandara went smoothly with food and place to spare. Bhairav Nath
admitted that the girl had supernatural powers and decided to test her further.
He followed the Divine girl to Trikuta Hills. For 9 months Bhairav Nath was
searching for the mystic girl in the mountains, whom he believed was an
incarnation of the Mother Goddess. While running away from Bhairav, Devi shot
an arrow into the Earth from which water gushed out. The resultant river is
known as Baanganga. It is believed that by taking a bath in Baanganga (Baan:
Arrow), a believer of the Mother Goddess can wash away all his sins. The banks
of the river, known as Charan Paduka, are marked by Devi's foot imprints, which
remains intact till date. Vaishno Devi then took shelter in a cave known as
Garbh Joon near Adhkawari where she meditated for 9 months attaining spiritual
wisdom and powers. Her meditation was cut short when Bhairav located her.
Vaishno Devi was then compelled to take the form of Maha Kali when Bhairav
tried to kill her. The manifestation of the Mother Goddess took place at the
mouth of the Holy cave at Darbar. The Goddess then beheaded Bhairav with such
sheer force that his skull fell at a place known as Bhairav Ghati, 2.5 km from
the Holy Cave.
In his dying moments, Bhairav pleaded for forgiveness. The
Goddess knew that Bhairav's main intention in attacking her was to achieve
salvation. She not only granted Bhairav liberation from the cycle of
reincarnation, but also granted him a boon, whereby every devotee, in order to
ensure completion of the pilgrimage, had to visit Bhairav Nath's temple near
the Holy cave after the darshan of the Goddess.Meanwhile Vaishno Devi assumed
the shape of a rock with three pindis (heads) and immersed herself into
meditation forever.
Meanwhile, Pandit Shree-Dhar became impatient. He started to
march towards Trikuta
Mountain on the same path
that he had witnessed in a dream. He ultimately reached the cave mouth. He made
a daily routine of worshipping the 'Pindis' in several ways. His worship
pleased the Goddess. She appeared in front of him and blessed him. Since that
day, Shree-Dhar and his descendants have been worshipping the Goddess Mother
Vaishno Devi.
