A Pilgrimage to Remember!

Friends, today I am going to discuss a different thing. I have discussed about many topics in the past, such as food, travelling, politics, finance, etc. but today I will discuss about a religious place, a pilgrimage which has a great importance for Hindus. The place is – Vaishno Devi, it is in Jammu –Kashmir, the state lies in the far north corner of India. The place or the temple is situated at a height and I am going to tell you, about my journey, what I saw, what I observed and what I felt during my visit.

After Diwali, my family decided to visit this Holy place. So on the next day of Diwali we went to J&K, from Baijnath using National Highway-24. The view and scenery in my place, is the major assets. Huge mountains covered with snow throughout the year, gives a heavenly look to the topography here. I have always dreamed to visit the Malta Vaishno Devi temple, but couldn't visit it ever before. You can say it was the will or permission of the almighty. It took us approximately 8 hours to reach there, saw the serenity of Himachal, the busyness of Pathankot and Jammu, Big highways in Srinagar and a crowded place named as Katra. Culture is the last stop from where you have to leave your vehicles and start your journey to the temple.

You can enjoy the horse riding, auto-rickshaw, Palki (a chair which is lifted by some people from front and behind), but the real fun or real test by the trekking. It takes too much strength and the trekking is not easy, but if you have will power and devotion this journey won’t cost you anything. The view from the top is extremely beautiful and breathtaking; the temple complex is always crowded throughout the year. You have to wait and prove your patience that you deserve to have “Darshan”. The heights and chants in “Bhairo Temple”, the cave in “Ardh Kuwari” is just awesome. It took us 15-16 hours to climb and come down from the heights, believe me it was one of the best and the most thrilling journeys I have ever done. It was a pilgrimage to visit. A place to remember!