Vaishno Devi Darshan 2019 Feb 28 to March 15th

The trip started from Delhi where shawls were distributed to all the pilgrims so that they could be easily identified and not missed.

Most of the pilgrims landed in Delhi by train and few of them landed in flight. On reaching Delhi all the further trip was through a good well equipped AC bus.

First day we all moved around Delhi visiting Lakshmi Narayan temple that is Birla Mandir, Lotus Temple, India Gate- Amar Jyothi, and Rajghat. Had plans to visit Akshardham but could not so had to postponed it doing while returning.

On the forward trip next day we landed at Kurukshetra in Haryana District, the first place there that we were fortunate to be was at the Geeta Updesh Sthal (place). 5000 years old banyan tree - Jyotisar stood at the Birthplace of Bhagavad Gita, Kurukshetra. Then we visited Bhishma Kund, Savitri Shaktipeeth, Maa Bhadrakali Shakti Peeth and from there on went to Sarveshwar Shiva temple Kurukshetra that was just amazing. Brahma Sarovar is one of the holiest water tanks in all of Kurukshetra. Located in the Thanesar area, this is the place where Lord Brahma conceived the earth planet. It is also said that Lord Brahma created the entire universe from the land of Kurukshetra, after performing a large yajna. Thus, Brahma Sarovar is considered to be the cradle of civilisation. The Sarovar itself is understood to represent the naval of Lord Brahma. We were blessed to witness Kurukshetra Aarti.

The Rock garden in Chandigarh was huge, well maintained and a good example of best out of waste. From there we visited the very informative SHRI KRISHNA MUSEUM; which gave a living touch to his life.The museum, unravels the mystique of the cult of Lord Krishna. It endeavours to present the multifaceted personality of Krishna as narrated in the episodes of Mahabharata and the Bhagvata Purana. The museum has six galleries, three each in two blocks. On display are stone sculptures, bronze castings, leaf etchings, miniature paintings, clay pottery and terracotta artifacts. An extension of this museum is the Multimedia Mahabharata and Gita Gallery set up by Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

Onwards we visited Shri Naina Devi Temple where the eyes of Sathi Devi is expected to have fallen, Jwalamukhi Temple, being parts of Sathi Devi. According to Hindu Mythology, the fiftyone Peethaas or holy places came into being when the dissected body parts of Sati (the first spouse of Lord Shiva and the sixteenth girl or Prajapati Daksha or king Daksha) fell over different places. When the supreme god Lord Vishnu, cut Sati's dead body with his Sudarshan Chakra, (a weapon), being carried by Lord Shiva, was cut into pieces and was scattered all over the Indian sub-continent.
Countrywise number of Shakti Peethaa's are :
Sri Lanka : One (1) Shakti Peethas
Pakistan : Two (2) Shakti Peethas
Tibet (China) : One (1) Shakti Peethas
Bangladesh : Six (6) Shakti Peethas
Nepal : Two (2) Shakti Peethas
India : Thirty Eight (38) Peethas


Then we visited Kangra Devi Temple, Sri Chamunda Devi, Kapilashramam, Sandeepamy- of the Chinmaya Mission Trust, Chinmaya Tapovan. Could listen to the stories of Swami Chinmaya anda, how the installation of Hanuman statue brought rain to that region, and as per his prediction had to arrange gathering of thousands of people as he attended Samadhi in due course.

The day in Punjab it seems it was destined to be a patriotic day we visited Jallianwala Bagh, Wagah Border, Wagah border was beyond words. It brings out Patriotism to the core. We could see BSF Jawans Marching, and similar task done by the soldiers from other side. From there we went to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, a beautiful and enchanting Guru dwara.

From there we set forward to the destined and planned destination at Jammu - Vaishno Devi temple. The Holy Cave is situated at an altitude of 5200 ft. We had to undertake a trek of nearly 12 km from the base camp at Katra on Trikuta mountain. Enroute we had an ariel view of Jammu. The Darshans was in the shape of three natural rock formations called the Pindies. There are no statues or idols inside the Cave. They are believed to be Mahasaraswathi, MahaLakshmi and Mahakali.The Temple or Bhawan is 13.5 km from Katra.A newly installed ropeway is also available which runs from the Bhawan to Bhairav Ghati, which is further 2.5 km from the Bhawan.

The return trip was at a stretch to Delhi and a straight drive of 15 hours. Before the return trip was fortunate to visit SwamiNarayan Akshardham temple. Next day borded flight to Kerala bringing an end to a memorable trip.

We were around 90 people for the trip, unfortunately some of them could not complete due to illness and some other foreseeable circumstances. Missed them during the trip. Thanks to Sri Murali Kizhakadam our program coordinator and all the volunteers for making this happen, providing us with homely food, amazing memories with visit, photos, videos and album; it was my 5th trip with them. Praying that God shower on them abundant blessings to make many more Travel possible for us. RadheShyam.