"कहते हैं की जब माता का बुलवा आता है तो कोई भी ताक़त आपको रोक नहीं सकती "
First week of July 2009, I had planned a trip to Vaishno Devi but at the last moment all the guys backed off and i was the only one left raring to go. I made a call to my cousins and they included one of their friends .So from no where we were 4 guys now.
Vaishno Devi Mandir - one of the biggest and the heavily visited shrine of the Hindus is located in the Udhampur District in the Northern most state of India, Jammu and Kashmir.The shrine is at an altitude of 5200 feet and visited by millions of devotees every year.The holy cold and crystal clear water washes the lotus feet of the Mata's "Pindian". There are three natural pindies representing Maha Sarswati, Maha Lakshmi, Maha Kali, which represent creative, preservative, and destructive aspects of the Super Power.
We started our journey from Red Fort in a Volvo bus. It took a couple of hours before driver applied first gear and we said jai mata di. It was around 8:00 PM when journey began.Bus reached Katra @ 10:00 AM. All 4 of us went in different directions to find an economical stay . 
200 was the amount we spent for 2 hours stay and luggage deposition.Since there was no rush at the ticket counter, we got the ticket quite easily and had a light breakfast thereafter. 
We started our journey 1:30 PM, under the scorching sun and humid atmosphere.
Though being always ahead in any adventurous activity , I was knocked down in the first 1500 meters due to dehydration .At that moment i thought it won't be possible for me go ahead. My cousin who was training for police force encouraged me and got a "banta-lemon" for me. I don't know what did that "banta" do to me(maybe i was being tested by Goddess), a new driving force flew through my spine .
There after i was mostly leading the group.
This trip had a twist
when one of us parted somewhere around Adkuwari (It was around 3:00 PM then).I went up to the guy at mike and got the announcement made while others searched him in the backward direction. All the attempts went in vain and we had to carry on with our journey.
BHAWAN:
The visit at the Bhavan typically start with a freezing cold water shower and a change of clothes. Even though both are optional, but highly recommended after a steep hike.The ticket issued at the Katra is exchanged for a batch number at a counter in the Bhavan. The running batch number is clearly displayed at several places. The devotees which carry the current batch number, or lesser, can enter the queue.
After entering the queue, we passed through a maze (which is useful to handle the crowd during rush time) and finally found ourself in front of a marble stone cave. The actual manifestation of Shri Vaishno Devi resides at one end of this cave. After worshipping the Deity (typically for 2-5 seconds because of a continuous churn of devotees) and making your wish, you head over to the exit at other end of the tunnel.The pilgrims keep reciting "Jai Mata Di" (Hail Mother Goddess) all through out the journey from Katra to Bhavan and back.
After worshipping at the Bhavan, we headed over to Bhairon Temple. A visit to this temple is skipped by a few devotees because of a further higher altitude and steepness of the hike. This is the highest elevation (approx 6600 feet) in the entire trip. After worshipping at this temple, the downhill hike started.We were super quick in downhill journey. In a couple of hours(2+ hours) we reached the katra. On our way down we had our dinner(chhole bhatoorey) at Adkuwari.
5 AM in the morning we took a local bus to Jammu. At that point of time we were all tired big time and could hardly move. After reaching Jammu,we somehow found a scarcely filled roadways bus which was about to depart to delhi.We were enjoying the sleep fully stretched on the empty seats when this bus surrendered to the heat and its engine went down.We boarded another bus and woke up only after we reached Kashmere gate @ 5:00 PM. We were home by 6 PM after 47 hours of non stop trip. JAI MATA DI !!!!!
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