Essay about Your Travel Experience

Let’s begin by saying “Jai Mata Di” as this is what people keep on chanting throughout their journey to the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. It is considered to be one of the holiest pilgrimages, and a large number of pilgrims visit this place every year.

As a matter of fact, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji is known to reside in a holy cave that is located in the folds of the three-peaked mountain named ‘Trikuta’ and pronounced as ‘Trikoot’. The holy cave is positioned at an altitude of 5200ft. The base camp is at Katra and from there the visitors have to undertake a trek of around 12km.

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Before I give you a glance at my trip to Mata Vaishno Devi, let’s go through an overview of the history of the holy shrine.

History and Discovery of Holy Shrine

As per the geological study of the holy cave, its age has been estimated to be nearly a million years. The mountain Trikuta has its name mentioned in Rigveda, the oldest of the four Vedas.

The Mother Goddess was mentioned for the first time in the Mahabharat. While the Pandavs and Kauravs were on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjun on the advice of Shri Krishna called upon the name of the Mother Goddess to ask for blessings for victory. Then, Arjuna addressed the Mother Goddess as 'Jambookatak Chityaishu Nityam Sannihitalaye' that infers who always dwell in the temple on the slope of the mountain in Jamboo (referring to the present-day Jammu). It is also believed that the Pandavs were the first to build the temples at Kol Kandoli and Bhawan in respect of the Mother Goddess.

Talking about the discovery of the holy shrine, it is known to be discovered around 700 years back by a pandit named ‘Shridhar’. Mata helped him organize a Bhandara that she left on the way to reach Bhairon Nath. Pandit Shridhar felt really gloomy and he locked himself in a room, praying for the Mata Vaishnavi to reappear. That is when Mata reappeared in his dream and told him to search for her at the holy cave located near Mount Trikuta. Pandit went on to discover the holy cave in the mountains, and whenever he was losing the way, the vision of dreams helped him to reach his destination. On entering the cave, he found a rock with three heads. At that moment Mata appeared in the form of Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi, and Maha Kali in the holy cave and introduced him to the three heads that are now known as the ‘Holy Pindies’. Mata asked him to spread the glory of the holy shrine all over.

One-and-a-Half-Day Trip to Mata Vaishno Devi

I visited there with my family during the month of May when summer is at its peak in India. The hotel was already booked online, and as soon as we checked into the hotel, the weather took a turn and it started raining. But as everything was pre-planned, so we were not in a situation to delay anything.

The hotel was about 2-3 km from Darshani Darwaza where the yatra was supposed to begin. The moment we reached the spot, it was already raining and there was no way to escape that because the weather at Katra cannot be predicted anytime. You can check the climate and weather conditions in advance before planning your trip. We had some warm clothes with us so cold was not a problem, but we were not ready for the rainy part. However, there were vendors selling umbrellas.

After starting from the Darshani Darwaza, there are a number of options available to take you to Bhawan which is around 12-13 km uphill or if you prefer you can walk all the way. The options include Palkis, Ponis, and Pithoos. We opted for Pithoos, but only till our first stop, i.e. Ardhkuwari. You can even hire them for your entire route as well but make sure you are well aware of the important points.

By the moment we reached our first stop, we were all wet and cold, so we sipped our first coffee at a nearby eatery. You will find several eating joints en route to Bhawan. On reaching Ardhkuwari, the first thing we did was obtain a group number from the Garbhjoon Parchi Counter. You will be allowed to enter Garbhjoon Cave as per your group number. Our number was 253 and the waiting period was around 15 hours. So in those 15 hours, we have to reach the main Bhawan and then to Bhairon Ghati and come back to Ardhkuwari.

The next we did was to move to our rented accommodation which was Shailputri Bhawan. Several free and rented accommodations are available at various spots like Jammu, Katra, Ardhkuwari, Bhawan, and Sanjhichatt. There you can relax while waiting for your turn for the darshan.

Afterward, we took a nap, and then around 3 in the afternoon, we headed out towards the rest of the journey. To reach Bhawan, there were three routes available, and a distance of around 6 to 7 km was left.

The first route is the oldest one via Hathi Mattha and Sanjhichatt. This route is comparatively difficult as it is on the steeper side, also the services of Ponies, Porter, and Palanquins on this route. So for the pedestrians, it is better to take the second route, i.e. via Himkoti, as it is a much cleaner and shorter route (5 km). At this route, you can avail of the facility of battery-operated vehicles at the cost of around Rs 350 per person till Bhawan. However, this facility is mainly for senior citizens and handicapped people.

We started walking down the Himkoti route as per our plan. On the way, there were several shelter sheds and seats to sit and relax. Moreover, there was the proper facility of refreshment units (serving cold drinks, coffee, etc.), bhojanlayas (serving hygienic food on a no-profit basis), and clean toilets. All these amenities were making it a more convenient journey.

While walking, we kept on taking drink breaks, and when it was about to sunset, we were in the vicinity of Bhawan. Then we were looking for a 'Bhaint Shop’ to buy the offerings for the Goddess. You will find some shops selling chunri, saries, cholas, silver or gold ornaments, dry fruits, coconut, etc. We bought one bag for ourselves from there.

We kept all our belongings like bags, mobile phones, and leather items in a locker in the cloakroom as no such item was allowed to carry further. Then we got into a queue that will take us to the main temple for the darshan. There was not much rush as there was some time left for the aarti.

Inside the Holy Cave

The moment we start moving towards the cave, it was really magical and mesmerizing. Everyone around us was chanting “Jai Mata Di' while moving forward. After crossing one or two checkpoints, we entered the place where the 'poojan' of the Goddess takes place. The holy cave there is known as the ‘Old Cave’, through which devotees used to reach the sanctum sanctorum in the earlier days. Nowadays, this cave is kept closed for a large part of the year as it is quite narrow, it takes several minutes for a single person to cross it and reach the sanctum sanctorum.

After crossing the area of the original cave, we reached a broad platform where statues of the lions, the mount of the Mother Goddess, and a life-size statue of the Mother Goddess are enshrined. This is the entrance of the new tunnels and at the end of the tunnel; we saw a raised marble platform on which the Divine Mother has revealed herself in a natural rock form known as the Holy Pindies. Make sure you totally concentrate on the three ‘Pindies’ and the priest sitting on the platform. He will inform you about these Pindies. Also, the darshan's time is very limited due to the large number of pilgrims.

Those two minutes we got to have a glimpse of the Holy Pindies, sums up the entire journey to Mata Vaishno Devi. After moving out of the tunnel, we all were very content and smiling.

However, this is not where the journey gets over. After coming out of the tunnel onto the left side of the cave, there is Amrit Kund, known as Charanamrit. The taps run the water of Charan Ganga, the sacred water flowing from the feet of Mata.

Other Darshans at Bhawan

There are other darshans in the Bhawan area as well. We went for the darshans of Lord Shiva’s Shivling in a cave. You can look for these temples by following the directions given by signboards that have been put up at Bhawan.

Bhairon Ghati

After all this, we got hold of our bags and stepped towards the next stop, Bhairon Ghati. To reach there, a ropeway service has been started lately, but to our bad luck or as per God’s wish, it got dark till that time and this service is not provided at night. So now again we have to walk for the rest of the journey or take those photos or ponies.

It was around 8 at night when we started at Bhairon Ghati. The distance was an hour long and steeper than before. The ropeway service has shortened the distance to just 3 minutes and the charges were also very affordable for everyone, Rs 100 per person. But we were neither lucky to avail of that service nor interested in the pithoos or ponies. So, when we reached Bhairon Ghati, we were all very hungry and there were no eateries on our way as the distance was not that long. But near the Bhairon temple, there were some shops and stalls, where you can munch upon some snacks.

Next, we followed the same procedure, got some offerings, and walked upstairs toward the temple. We did not see any rush there as not every pilgrim to Bhawan visited this temple. So it took us only five to ten minutes to do the darshan.

I will recommend everyone to visit this place at least once on their trip to Mata Vaishno Devi as the journey is considered complete after visiting this temple at the end.

Going Back to Ardhkuwari

Till this time, the weather has already taken a toll on us and we were feeling cold and tired at the same time. But to our dedication, we put on our warm clothes and after a break of half an hour, started walking for the return journey to our accommodation at Ardhkuwari. There were two ways for this, one the same way using which we arrived at the temple, or the other one that is considered a shorter one. So we chose the latter one and after a long walk of two to three hours, we were at Shailputri Bhawan. There we checked for the current group number for the entry in Garbhjoon Cave and it was 225. Ours was 254, and as per our calculation, our turn for the cave will come early in the morning. So, we rented some blankets and got on our beds to sleep for the next 4 to 5 hours. After a restless sleep of 3 hours and at around 3 in the morning, I was woken up by my brother telling me that we need to rush to the temple as our turn was about to come. We got freshened up in five minutes and in the next ten minutes, we were in the temple with the other 40 people.

I was considering myself lucky that time as for the next group the Darshans were halted for the next three hours due to the aarti at the temple. So it was around 5 in the morning, we all were so happy and relaxed as we have finally completed all the major darshans and now we can head over to Katra to our hotel.

Journey Back to Katra

The journey was not over yet as we have to walk down all the way to Katra. From there we will hire an auto or taxi for the hotel. It was our bad that we chose the new route, i.e. Tarakote Marg, to reach Katra. As the route was newly inaugurated, there were only two or three places to eat or drink on the way. Also, the route was relatively less steep, so the distance we have to cover walking was increased to around 7.5km (2 km longer than the other way). No doubt the route was all clean and the toilet facility was also available at different spots, but still choosing Tarakote Marg was not a good idea at all. It took around 3 hours to reach the taxi point, and till that time, our legs were cramping so badly.

The best way to get back to Katra is to take the helicopter service. There is a place known as Sanjhichatt that is around 3km from Bhawan. A new helipad has been constructed there. The helipad has presented the helicopter service between Katra and Sanjhichhat. This way you can cover the entire journey back to Katra in the blink of an eye.

Conclusion

On an ending note, I can conclude that my trip to Mata Vaishno Devi was an adventurous one. It was tiring on the one hand, but alongside, we got to see the struggle of other people on the journey. All in all, it was a memorable experience for me.