Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Heavy rush to Vaishno Devi

Pilgrimage to holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji has gone up by 47,000 during first three months of this year as compared to 2010 while a heavy rush was witnessed during first Navratra as nearly 30,000 pilgrims turned up for darshan of the Goddess.

During first three months of 2011, 15.46 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance to Goddess Vaishno Devi as compared to 14.99 lakh, who had performed darshan during the similar period last year.

The yatra has gone up by 47,000 in the first three months, official sources said.

In the month of March, 7.55 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine of Goddess Vaishno Devi in Trikuta Hills. During March 2010, 7.22 lakh yatra was recorded. In the month of March alone, 33,000 increase was registered in the yatra.

Sources said 4,21,231 yatris had darshan of natural pindies of Goddess Vaishno Devi during January this year. The similar figure for previous year was 3,99,665. In February, the yatra came down slightly and stood at 3,69,755 as against 3,77,213 last year.

First Navratra witnessed heavy rush today with over 30,000 pilgrims leaving Katra, the base camp of the shrine, for Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan. Authorities were expecting heavy rush to the shrine during the remaining Navratras.

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) and police authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims during Navratras. Security arrangements have also been beefed up at Katra and Vaishno Devi Bhawan.

SMVDSB Additional CEO Dr Mandeep K Bhandari besides DIG Udhampur-Reasi range Jagjit Kumar and SP Katra Shiv Kumar Sharma reviewed facilities for the pilgrims and security arrangements respectively.

During 2010, 87.2 lakh yatris had visited Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan while the number in 2009 was 82 lakh. In 2008, 67.92 lakh yatra was recorded while the number was 74.17 lakh in 2007. The pilgrimage was down in 2008 due to Amarnath land row agitation.

Sources said even last year, the SMVDSB authorities were anticipating 9 million yatra to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine but the number remained slightly less due to three month unrest during summer in the Kashmir valley. The Valley unrest also had impact on the yatra to Vaishno Devi Bhawan.

This year the SMVDSB was expecting the pilgrimage to touch or cross 9 million if everything goes well. However, another spell of summer unrest in the Valley could have an impact on pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi also.

The Shrine Board is bracing up to receive 1 crore pilgrims to Vaishno Devi shrine per annum in next couple of years. The facilities are being generated keeping in view the arrival of 10 million pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

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