J&K: Navratri Pilgrimage at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Sees Over 45,000 Daily Devotees

In Jammu and Kashmir, amid multi-tier security arrangements, the nine-day-long festival of Navratri began with religious fervour, as over 45 thousand pilgrims undertake the pilgrimage daily to pay obeisance at the cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi in the Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu division. 

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), which manages the yatra, has started new registration counters at the Katra Railway Station to ease the process for the pilgrims in light of the expected influx during the Navratri period. The Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra has been adorned with indigenous and foreign flowers, and large pandals have been set up in the Bhawan area for the auspicious occasion. 

Chief Executive Officer, of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Anshul Garg has congratulated all the devotees on the occasion of Shardiya Navratri and welcomed them and hopes that thousands of pilgrims from across the globe will come to pay their obeisance. He assured that all necessary arrangements had been made to ensure a comfortable and peaceful yatra for the pilgrims. Multi-tier security measures have been implemented to ensure an incident-free yatra. Police, CRPF and Shrine Board security



personnel have been deployed along the track from Katra to Bhawan. 

Elaborate security arrangements have been made following a full review. In response to the heavy rush of pilgrims, crowd management systems integrated with CCTV and RFID surveillance systems have been put in place. As many as 650 CCTV cameras are active with integrated cards to monitor all movements and a skywalk has been introduced for crowd management. Additionally, a new langar has been set up at Ardh Kuwari to provide facilities for the pilgrims, supplementing the three major langars already in place. The Shrine Board has taken additional initiatives this year. Thousands of devotees are enthusiastically undertaking the pilgrimage, viewing it as a chance to seek the blessings of Mata Vaishnodevi during Navratri. Long queues were seen at the temple since early morning. 

In Jammu, there were long queues seen at Mata Kali temple popularly known as Bawewali Mata located at Bahu fort in Jammu. Hundreds of devotees were lined up since pre-dawn time to pay obeisance to the deity. Navratri is an annual festival celebrated to worship Goddess Durga, with the celebrations lasting for nine days.