Hey yaa...last time i told you about my visit to katra and amritsar.
My snapchat family and instagram family knows about it. My whole visit to katra,jammu was really bad.
Will tell you about this in my next blog.
But today m going to share details about the temple i visited and history behind it.
1.Mata Vaishnav Devi temple.
It is the story if tretayug when gods decided to create a divine girl.
The divine girl asked the Gods the cause and reason for her birth. The divine forces told her that she had been created to protect Dharma and rekindle spirit of religion. She took birth in South India at the home of Ratnakar Sagar as a girl named Trikuta. Later the same girl was called Vaishno because of her taking birth from Lord Vishnu’s lineage. The religion propagated by this goddess girl was called Vaishno-Dharam.
In her lifetime Trikuta attracted many devoted followers including saints. The fame of her divine power and miracle spread far and wide.After some time Trikuta sought permission from her father for taking penance on the seashore. She prayed to Lord Vishnu in the form of Rama who reached the seashore alongwith his army in search of Sita, his eyes fell on this divine girl in deep meditation. Rama asked Trikuta her name and reason for penance. She replied that she had accepted Rama as her husband by mind and heart.On hearing this Ram told her that he had vowed to be faithful to wife. However, Ram ji wished that penance of Trikuta should no go waste and unfruitful. Therefore he said to her, “I will definitely come to see you in a disguised form. If you can recognise me at that time then I will accept you.” It is said that on his return from Lanka, Lord Rama went to see the girl in the form of an old monk (Sadhu) but she did not recognise him as God. He revealed his identity and assured Trikuta that in ‘Kaliyug’ he would manifest himself as ‘Kalki’ would marry her. He asked Trikuta to meditate in Trikuta range of Manik Mountains, situated in north India. He said that Trikuta would become immortal forever and would become famous as ‘Vaishno Devi’.After the death of Bhairavnath which i will explain you later in this post. Mata vaishnavi decided to shed the human bodyand assuming the face of a rock she immersed herself into deep meditation forever.Thus vaishnavi in the form of five and half feet tall rock with three heads or pindies on the top is the ultimate destination. The devotee has to travel almost 13.5km to reach there. There are so many facilities available for the devotee to reach there which include ponies, electric scooters, palki, and helicopter ( for 9.5 km).
On the way to Holy Cave, one comes across the narrow Ardh Kuwari cave located at a height of 4800 feet, which simply means half.
Half of the distance of the Yatra is completed in this cave. A popular belief holds that the goddess showed herself to the saint in this cave and lived here for 9 months. This long cave thus came to be known as 'Garbhs Joon'. Interestingly, the goddess shot her trident to make s new opening snd escaped wjen Demon Bhairon came into the cave. Hathi Matha( Head of the Elephant) follows Ardh kuwari cave for another 2.5 km through a steep path, a distance which must be covered using foot path or stairs.
Half of the distance of the Yatra is completed in this cave. A popular belief holds that the goddess showed herself to the saint in this cave and lived here for 9 months. This long cave thus came to be known as 'Garbhs Joon'. Interestingly, the goddess shot her trident to make s new opening snd escaped wjen Demon Bhairon came into the cave. Hathi Matha( Head of the Elephant) follows Ardh kuwari cave for another 2.5 km through a steep path, a distance which must be covered using foot path or stairs.
Shridhar was a very devout devotee of Ma Vaishno Devi. Once Ma took the form of a girl. The girl asked him to organise a big feast for the devotees of Vaishno Devi Shridhar agreed and went out to invite people. He also invited bhairavnath a sage, who asked him how he would make the arrangements.On the day of the feast three hundred and sixty people were invited and ate in his small hut. Bhairav Nath was surprised by the divine powers of the little girl and he followed her to the Trikuta hills. For nine months he kept searching for her everywhere but couldn't find her. Then, one day he saw the girl producing water from a stone by shooting it swiftly with an arrow. On seeing Bhairav she entered a cave. Bhairav Nath quickly followed her into the cave. With a trident she opened a path on the other end of the cave and left the cave. But Bhairav adamantly continued to follow her. Finally, she took her real form and cut off Bhairav Nath's head. Due to his powers, his head died but body remained alive. He begged the goddess for forgiveness. She not only forgave him but also gave him a boon that the devotees who would come to worship her in her holy cave would visit his temple thereafter, otherwise the yatra of the devotee will be incomplete.Later a temple was built at the place where Bhairav's head fell.
These 3 temples are on the way of your katra. First, you will get to visit ardhkuwari at the half of the distance, then bhawan (mata vaishno devi mandir) and after that bhairavnath temple.
It is said that Lord Shiva resides in the cave of Shivkhori and the cave is connected to the Amarnath cave from inside. But no one can really confirm this fact as it is said that if someone tries to go towards the end of the cave to seek Amarnath, he or she never really returns.It is said that in Dwaparyuga, the saints used to travel to Baba Barfani cave (Amarnath) through this cave but nobody has able to cross the cave. The tunnel has been shut down. The Shivaling present in the cave is believed to be a naturally formed shivalinga. The cave also has naturally formed nandi and parvati. It also has a snake like carving on the cave.
It is a belief that when Lord Shiva went to the Amarnath cave to tell Parvati the story of hid immortality, he left his serpent king, Sheshnag at Anantnag. Sheshnag took human form and settled here, fathering many sons, one of whom was Dhansar.
An ascetic saint, Baba Dhansar was revered by the locals. When demons attacked the area,the people called on Baba Dhansar for help. At this time, Lord Shiva returned and helped to kill the demon. At Baba Dhansar Temple, devotees find a naturally formed Shivling,on which droplets of water fall at constant pace throughout the year.
It is to be believed that this temple is 200 years old having all 9 faces (pindies) and footmarks of maa vaishno devi which is why this is called nau devi mandir.When i asked one of the locals about its history i didn't get his reply because he was busy in watching India v/s Pakistan final match. Laughing hardly, i was like okay.But guys i promise you if next time i'll go there will definitely collect all the information.
7. Siar baba temple.
Siar baba temple is a cave shrine and it is regarded holy by Hindus. The waterfall is one of the largest waterfall in india.
It is a belief of people here thst crores of deities exist in Siar Baba Temple. Residents of the place also believe that many saints with divine powers meditate inside the cave for years to achieve spiritual realisation.
8. Baba Jitto Temple.
Jit Mal (Baba Jitto) was a devotee of Mata Vaishno Devi and shifted to Shamachak village, near Jammu, along with his daughter Bua Kori from Aghar village, near Katra, some 200 years ago. As he was landless, he requested Mehta Bir Singh, a feudal lord to provide a piece of land for tilling. Mehta Bir Singh agreed on a condition that he will take one-fourth of produce.However, later he wanted more than agreed and incensed at the injustice, Baba Jitto stabbed himself sitting on a heap of crop, leaving grains drenched with his blood. Later his daughter Bua Kori lit a pyre and burnt herself with her father, thus making him immortal in the local folklore.
But the other side of the story says,
Roop Chandra and Jana were both husband and wife of religious tendencies and used to spend most of their time in worship and good deeds. As there was no child of this Brahmin couple, so Janaja started worshiping Lord Shiva in the shiv temple of the village.The worship of Mata Janja was near its entirety, that in the provocation of the people, Roop Chandra ji came to the temple with a desire to kill his wife by taking a blade in his hand. At the same time, celestial announcement took place that the wife you want to kill will give birth to a divine child who will be the exclusive devotee of Vaishnavi Durga and Vaishnavi Durga will be born as his daughter. But the blade that you have taken in your hand with the intention to kill your wife, the same blade will cause the death of your child.Because of the curse of Lord Shiva to RoopChandra ji , Baba Jitamal sacrificed his own self with the same skull against the injustice done by Veer Singh. Baua Kauri became sati with her father in the funeral pyre.Baba Jittal Ji appeared with the blessings of Lord Shiva from the womb of mother Jaanjaa, that is why he is considered the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Bau Kauri herself was an incarnation of Goddess Durga, so she is worshiped in the form of Dasam Shakti.
And there is one more story which i heard from our driver.He told us baba jitto was a devotee to Mata Vaishno devi and he used to travel really far in search of Mata Vaishnavi.Once Mata Vaishnavi asked him for his wish.He answered her in a way to get water for the whole village and Mata Vaishnavi got really impressed and in return she gave him a boon that his village will never be out of water.And there is no need for him to travel so far for the darshan of Mata Vaishnavi. All he just has to see from his home and he will be able to see Mata Vaishnavi.
Guys really sorry for any wrong information. Will welcome your reviews.
And one more thing thank you for following me on instagram and snapchat. And couraging me on micro tale idea. Will definitely share more on snapchat.
Probably the next blog of katra will be on my experiences and fun. Will share hotel and rafting details as well.
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