According to Hindu mythology, a beautiful girl was born out of the spiritual austerities of the three manifestations of the Divine Mother. Once she was born, Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswati told their creation that her purpose was to live on earth, uphold righteousness and eventually merge into Lord Vishnu and become one with him. In order to do this she must take birth in the home of a great Goddess devotee named Ratnakar and his wife in the Southern part of India. The couple named their daughter Vaishnavi and understanding they had been blessed with a unique child they supported her in her spiritual pursuits. Eventually, their daughter left their home to engage in fierce tapasya in the forests. Word spread that a beautiful young woman living in the forest had attained a high degree of spiritual insight. Lord Vishnu, in the form of Ram, came to visit Vaishnavi to receive her blessings before he launched his campaign against the demon Ravan. During this meeting Vaishnavi made her request to merge with Vishnu’s avatar, Ram, and become one with him. Ram told Vaishnavi that he would return to her after the war with Ravan was over and if she could recognize him he would consider her request. After his defeat of Ravan, Ram honored his promise to Vaishnavi and he visited her but he came disguised as an old man. Unable to recognize him in another form, Ram lovingly told Vaishnavi that she had not yet attained the level needed to fulfill her wish to merge with Vishnu and she must continue her spiritual austerities. In time, if she continues with her tapasya then during Kaliyug (in his incarnation as Kalki) Vishnu will accept her as his Shakti. Ram then encouraged Vaishnavi to journey to Northern India and perform her spiritual practices at the base of a special mountain with three peaks shaped like huts or “kutias,” hence the name, Trikuta.

Thousands of years later the great sage, Gorak Nath, heard about Vaishnavi and her deep spiritual attainment. He sent his most senior disciple, Bhairo Nath, to find Vaishnavi at the base of the Trikuta Mountain. Vaishnavi enraptured Bhairo Nath and even after countless rejections he persisted to pursue her romantically. Fed up with Bhairo Nath’s advances, Vaishnavi traveled up the mountain to get away from him and she proceeded to do her practices in a cave. Eventually Bhairo Nath found Vaishnavi and killed a few of the langurs that were guarding her cave. By now, Vaishnavi had had enough and she transformed from her human form into the all-powerful Mother Goddess. Riding a lion with several weapons in her eight hands, she beheaded Bhairo Nath with the full force of her sword, sending his head more than a kilometer away. In his last moments Bhairo Nath asked Vaishnavi for her forgiveness because his real intention in pursuing her was only to merge with the Divine Mother and achieve salvation. Knowing this, Vaishnavi granted Bhairo Nath liberation and assured him that he would always be looked upon by pilgrims with respect. She declared that after receiving her darshan a yatri’s pilgrimage will only be complete after having darshan at a temple made in his honor where his head had landed. Tired of the obstacles her human form created for her spiritual practices, Vaishnavi became one with her creators and transformed herself into rock with three pindis (heads), immersing herself in deep meditation.

The shrine of Vaishno Devi was first discovered close to 1000 years ago by a Brahmin named Shridhar who lived in a village in the foothills of the Trikuta Mountain. He was a devotee of the Mother Goddess and spent most of his time in deep meditation. One day, he came across a young girl named Vaishnavi who convinced him to organize a holy feast. Unfortunately, Shridhar was unable to gather the rations needed to feed the many people he had invited to the holy feast and was fraught with worry. When the day of the holy feast came he performed the puja that precedes the holy feast and as he finished up his puja the young girl named Vaishnavi appeared and served his guests with delicious food that seemed to magically appear in endless flows from his pots. Certain that this occurrence was the work of a miracle he set off to find Vaishnavi for an explanation. After spending countless days searching for the young girl, he wept and prayed to the Divine Mother. Eventually, he had a glimpse of what looked like Vaishnavi and as he followed her he made his way to a cave. Finding no trace of Vaishnavi in the cave he began sobbing and at this point the cave became bathed in light and he saw a smiling Vaishnavi transform into her form as the Divine Mother. Divine rays emanated from three rocks in the cave as she told her devotee that she was indeed the Mother Goddess and she resided in this cave. As the Divine Mother revealed this to Shridhar his being was filled with boundless love and since then countless pilgrims have journeyed to the cave to honor the Mother Goddess.

The actual pilgrimage commences in Katra, which is about 50 kilometers from Jammu. In order to visit the holy shrine one needs to obtain a yatra permit. Katra itself is replete with hotels and travel services catering to yatris, which can organize this for you. Darshan happens in groups of 500 and on average 36 groups make their way to the holy cave each day.

The shrine itself is 5200 feet above sea level and those who wish to make the pilgrimage on foot climb a vertical height of 2500 feet while covering a distance of 24 kilometers. It is also possible to hire a pony, ride a palanquin, or take a helicopter but that seemed totally sacrilegious to me!

After a close to 3 hour flight from Delhi and a 1 ½ hour car ride from Jammu I quickly checked into my hotel and arrived at the yatra starting point. I was expecting a quiet and austere climb up the mountain as I meditated on the Divine Mother but instead I walked on well paved roads and climbed stairs with adjacent rails, all as sweepers cleared pony dung out of my path! It was a little surreal walking among hundreds of pilgrims chanting “Jai Mata Di” as we passed numerous Café Coffee Days. To be honest, at times it seemed more like a party than a “pukka” pilgrimage but I rejoiced in the entire experience and with a prayer in my heart and a skip in my step I journeyed up the mountain. I even purchased what is known as a “patti” which looked like a cross between a bandana and a tacky Diwali decoration that said “Jai Mata Di” and tied it around my head like my fellow pilgrims. At one point I led one of the “Jai Mata Di” chants! The journey up to the holy cave used to be more arduous but in 1986 administration of the shrine was taken over by a statutory Board set up under the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Act and this Board has taken numerous steps to make the pilgrimage extremely accessible.

The climb up to the holy cave took about 3 hours but bathing, changing my clothes and putting my items in a locker and getting a darshan number from my yatra permit took a considerable length of time. Eventually, my darshan group was called and I got in line. But just as I got in line the shrine was closed for aarti. I had just taken an icy cold bath and changed from my trekking gear into a salwar kameez. I waited in line for close to two hours as my hands and feet froze. At first I tried to just meditate on the Mother Goddess but my fellow pilgrims wanted to make conversation (they were curious about where I was from and why I was traveling alone) as the aarti was televised outside the shrine. The aarti lasted for close to two hours and it included the chanting of the 108 names of Durga and the bathing and dressing of the rock manifestations of the Goddess. In time, the line began moving and I knew it was only a matter of a few minutes before I had my darshan. As my made my way to the holy cave I spoke to “Ma” and told her I had answered her call and I was ready for whatever she wanted me to do in this life. I thanked her for always bathing me in boundless love and how grateful I am for her many manifestations in my life, especially my very own mother. I then asked all my ancestors to walk with me as I entered the cave that holds the “pindis” or rock manifestations of the Goddess. The walk to the inner sanctum where the “pindis” reside was only a few minutes and my actual darshan was less than 30 seconds. I gave my offerings to the priest, and while they were blessed I had enough time to quickly lay my head down near the “pindis” and make a sincere prayer of gratitude before I was pushed out.

I was freezing before I entered the holy cave but as cliché as it sounds once I came out I was filled with warmth and deep joy. But the yatra was not done. I still had 1.7 kilometers to climb to Bhairo Nath’s Temple and it was already close to 9pm. I gathered my belongings from my locker, had a cup of elaichi chai to energize me and made my way up to the shrine. I paid my respects to the stone deity and Bairo Nath’s aspiration to be one with the Divine Mother. As I completed the circumambulation I sent out thoughts of gratitude for being able to complete the yatra. By the time I finished up at Bhairo Nath’s shrine it was 10pm and I had at least 2 ½ hours of walking to go during my 6500-foot descent. There were no pilgrims anywhere and I was all alone. Still, I felt safe, as if my own Mother was with me, protecting me and the path was reasonably well lit. As I walked down the mountain my heart continuously filled with love and I cried tears of gratitude as I sang “Jai Mata Di.” I reached the yatra ending point, which is the same as the starting point by 12:30am.