The Vaishno Devi temple, which is also recognized as one of the “Shakti Peeths” of goddess ‘ Durga’, is situated at a distance of 61 Kms from Jammu, nestled in the mighty Trikuta mountains at a height of 5,200 feet above the sea level. The devotees traverse part of the distance i.e. 13 Km. on foot from the base town of Katra, which is at a height of 1700 ft. from the sea level. People who visit the shrine constitute a heterogeneous profile comprising of wealthy & poor, aged & young, males & females from within and outside the country. At the culmination of their pilgrimage the yatries are blessed with the ‘Darshans’ of the deity in her three manifestations as three Pindies, located inside the sanctum– sanatorium, open for the yatries through out the year in all seasons.
The temple of Vaishno Devi is dedicated to Vaishnavi, the human manifestation of Goddess Shakti. Within the temple is the deity in the form of a five and half feet tall rock with three Pindies or heads. It is written that the goddess to achieve her destiny of finally merging with Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a human and was born as Vaishnavi, in the household of one Ratnakar.
Midway to the shrine is the Adhkuwari temple, where the Goddess Vaishno is believed to be have spent nine months on her way to the mountains. Inside the 100-meter long cave, the shrine is narrow and pilgrims have to walk through a running stream of cold water called the Charan Ganga to get to the sanctum sanctorum. Within, three rock-cut idols of the goddesses, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati are venerated under canopies of silver and gold. Previously the Shrine had only one natural entry cave, but now two more exit caves have been constructed. The shrine can be visited all through the year.
It is said that anyone who treks theHimalayan to her shrine to ask for a boon will rarely return disappointed whether the request is for a son, an early marriage or good results in a forthcoming examination
