Last updated on July 5th, 2024
Has it ever happened to you that you have made last minute travel plans to a destination and have no clue about it. Maybe you just need quick travel tips from someone who have already visited and experienced the place. If you are among those kinds this list is for you my friend. Here is a list of top 10 practical tips & travel advice to consider if you are planning your trip to Vaishno Devi.
- The most important part before starting the trek of Vaishno Devi is to get your ‘Yatra Token’ that is made available at a counter near the only bus stand available in Katra. All you need to show is your adhaar card, name the city you’re from and get yourself clicked. After the entire process, that usually takes around 2-3 mins per person, you will receive an electronic token that you need to carry with you through the entire trek. After the yatra is complete these tokens have to be either manually handed over to the appointed personnel or dropped in at the places allocated by the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The yatra slip or token can also be availed online through the official website.
- Weather in mountains is sort of unpredictable and same is the case in Katra where Maa Vaishno Devi resides. The summer afternoons can get pretty hot while the summer nights can get pretty chilly so you need to pack your belongings accordingly. It may rain at the base, Katra while the sun shines at the tip of the Trikuta mountains. So, it becomes very difficult to forecast what to expect. If you still take help of the online weather forecast services , let me tell you that these forecast provides you with temperature details in and around Katra and not at the top of the Trikuta mountains.
- Apart from the old route, a new route has also been opened up for the pilgrims, also known as the Tarakot Marg. This new route converges into the old route of the Vaishno Devi trek. The path is very peaceful and one can totally get immersed in the devotional songs and chants playing in the background. However, the eateries are limited and during nightfall the route appears sparsely crowded. Personally, I always prefer this route during the daytime and skip it at night. It is important to know that this route skips the Ardhkuwari cave darshan and is also devoid of the battery cars, mules or paalkis.
- It is advisable to book the commute alternatives like ropeway, battery cars or helicopters well in advance online (preferably 2-3 months) as the seats fill up pretty fast, especially for the battery cars. Even though you can get the tickets offline for these services but I found that first, the offline bookings are not time-efficient and second, the online bookings are prioritised over offline ones, so the counter gets opened only if there are seats left in that particular slot. The helicopter facility is made available from the base of the Trikuta mountains till Sanchi Chat which is somewhere around the Ardhkuwari cave and vice versa. The battery cars are made available from somewhere around Ardhkuwari cave till the Mata Vaishno Devi Temple/Bhawan and vice versa.The ropeway is made available from the Vaishno Devi Temple/ Bhawan till the Bhairav Temple and vice versa. While the paalkis and mules are available during the entire trek. For more information on what official documents are required to book the facilities you can visit their official website : https://online.maavaishnodevi.org
- The Attka Arti at the Vaishno Devi Temple/Bhawan takes place 2 times everyday – one takes place just before the sunrise and the other, just after the sunset so my advice for you would be to plan your trip in such a way that either you reach the Mata Vaishno Devi temple/Bhawan much before the time when the aarti is due to start or right after the aarti gets completed. This will save you a lot of time. However, if things does not work out as planned it is important to remember a quote that I really like ‘Man proposes, God disposes’ which conveys the idea that while humans may make plans or propose certain outcomes, ultimately it is a higher power that determines what actually happens.
- Staying options during the Vaishno Devi trek are available both at Ardhkuwari and the Bhawan. The Bhairav Temple does not have any such option. You can book the rooms online through the official website of the Shrine Board mentioned above. However an important thing to know is that for offline bookings the room will be available on first come, first serve basis only. On the other hand if you are planning to book the room through the online portal, try to do that much in advance as chances are that the rooms might already be booked as it has happened many a times in my case as well.
- People planning for the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage often wonders whether they would get a chance to be be able to pass through the divine cave that everyone talks about, the same cave where Maa Durga had meditated and then manifested herself in the form of 3 holy pindis. On asking about the same with the pundits at the Bhawan, one of them confirmed that the cave opens for the general public only during the months of Jan- March, that too only when it is observed by the Shrine Board officials that the crowd around the cave is less and can be easily regulated. During the remaining months, the natural holy cave remains closed to pass through. Instead the alternative man-made cave is opened for the darshan.
- This 8th tip might be an effective one for a few, especially the first timers – If you don’t have much time and still want to visit the Ardhkuwari cave, a smart option would be to buy the token slip (ticket to the cave) while passing through the Ardhkuwari stop, but not get in the queue. Instead, within the waiting time you can go ahead with the Mata Vaishno Devi Temple/Bhawan and the Bhairav Temple darshan. After you have done the darshan at both the above mentioned stops you can return via the old route and visit the Ardhkuwari cave for the darshan, as hopefully now your chance would have come. This can let you save a lot of time and patience of course, that is sometimes lost while waiting for your turn.
- After a long journey, one is bound to famish. But being at Bhawan (around the Vaishno Devi Temple) gives you ample of options for wholesome meals that you would NOT find along the entire Vaishno Devi trek. Though along the trek you would have options of light snacks and beverages but the options of wholesome Indian meals are only available in and around the Bhawan. Due to this reason, it is advisable to start the journey only after eating a proper meal until and unless someone is observing a fast for personal reasons.
- One practical advice that I can give, especially to the first- timers is that when you are in front of the divine pindis at the sanctum sanctorum of the Mata Vaishno Devi temple, you won’t get enough time to actually say your prayers or look at the grace and might of the manifested forms of Maa Durga for too long (except when the crowd is low, during the months of Jan-Feb) as in order to regulate the crowd people are asked to keep moving the queue . So, make sure you know when to capture the divine aura in your heart for ever.
I have tried to cover all the points that I thought one would find helpful while planning a trip to the small town of Katra where Maa Vaishno Devi dwells. However, if you feel that I missed out on something worth mentioning, kindly feel free to send me an email or contact me using the contact form. If the suggestion seems valuable, I’ll consider adding it to this list. Click on the link if you want to read a detailed experience of this pilgrimage.