The goddess Vaishno Devi fulfils the desires of
all her devotees and has made her abode in the
mountains of 'Trikuta Hills' of J & K state, in a
beautiful cave, in the form of three 'Pindis' namely
Maha-Kali, Maha-Laxmi and Maha-Saraswati,
Every year, millions of people visit the holy shrine
to attain & fulfil their desires. It is believed that
arm of Sati had fallen at this place.
Way to reach the shrine- Jammu is connected
by train to all major states of India. It is about 13-
14 hours rail travel distance from Delhi. From
Jammu, the visitors have to proceed by bus up to
Katra. The journey is about 2 hours through zigzag roads cutting across many hill-locks. The pil-
grims enjoy travelling by bus as many picturesque
places fall in between Jammu & Katra. The distance between Jammu & Katra is about 52 kms.
From Katra onwards the pilgrims have to travel up
to shrine on foot or by horse/pony. The shrine is lo-
cated in the mountains at a distance of 14 kms
from Katra. Healthy person travel the entire route
in 4 hours. It is essential for every visitor to obtain
a Yatra-Slip from the tourist-reception centre,
Katra. No payment is to be made for slip. Pilgrims
who proceed further, without obtaining slip, have
to return back from Ban Ganga. No pilgrim is al-
lowed to travel beyond Ban-Ganga without yatra
slip.
History of Mata Vaishno Devi
Whenever righteousness and virtue has been
under pressure of demoniac forces, the cosmic
mother has overpowered such forces by taking dif-
ferent 'Rupas' -(Different supernatural forms or
shapes) and saved her devotees. In the beginning
of the universe, Maha-Shakti was created out of all
supernatural forces (Tejas) of gods united into
one. The same later took birth as Maha-kali, Maha-Laxmi and Maha-Saraswati. All the three 'Rupas'
represent the human characteristics Viz Raj, Tarn
and Satva-gun.
In Treta-yug when Ravana, Kumb-Karan, Khar-
Dooshan, Tadka and other demons tormented the
virtuous men, the goddess decided to create a divine form for their protection. This gave birth to a
beautiful divine girl. The divine girl enquired of
Devas, the cause and reason of her birth. The divine forces told her that she had been created to
protect Dharma and rekindle spirit of religion. She
was asked to go to South India and take birth at
the home of Ratnakar Sagar as a girl-child. Girl
was named Trikuta. Later the same girl was cal-
led Vaishno because of her taking birth from Lord
Vishnu's lineage. The religion propogated by this
goddess girl was called Vaishno-Dharm.
Within a short duration the goddess attracted
the attention of gods, saints and holy persons. The
fame of her divine power and miracle spread far
and wide. People started visiting the abode of divine girl to get benediction. After some time
Trikuta sought permission from her father for taking penance on sea shore. She prayed to Lord Vishnu in the form of Rama and waited for Shri Ram
Chancier ji while meditating. When Lord Ram
Chander ji reached the sea-shore alongwith his
army in search of Sita, his eyes fell on this divine
girl in deep meditation. Ram ji enquired of Trikuta
ji, her name and reason for penance. Devi replied
that she had accepted Sh. Ram Chander as her
husband by mind and heart. On hearing this Ram
Chander ji told her that he had vowed to be faith-
ful to wife. However, Ram ji wished that penance
of Trikuta should not go waste and unfruitful.
Therefore he said to her, "I will definitely come to
see you in a disguised form. If you can recognize
me at that time then I will accept you."
It is said that on his return from Lanka, Lord
Rama went to see the girl in the form of an old
monk (Sadhu). Trikuta could not recognize god.
However Lord assured the girl that in 'Kaliyuga'
he will manifest himself as 'Kaiki' god incarnate
and will marry her. He asked Trikuta to meditate
on god in the cave found in Trikuta range of Manik
mountains, situated in north India. He said that
Trikuta will become immortal for ever. The whole
world will sing her praise and pray. Later Trikuta
will become famous as 'Vaishno Devi'. Monkeys
will be her body guards.
It is believed, that daughter of "Ratnakar Sagar'
Vaishno goddess, who was born by the benedic-
tion of gods and goddesses, is adorning the holy
cave since "Treta Yug'. The early stories of Purans
bear testimony to it. With the passage of time,
many more stories about the mother goddess
emerged.
