We all visit pilgrimages, don't we? And being in India there is always a craze among people for visiting these pilgrimages. And in India we have many. But only few of them are famous. Of which one is Vaishno Devi.
Situated in the hill state of Jammu And Kashmir, its a a pilgrimage near the city of Katra. To be exact around 12.5kms. Actually i never thought of visiting this place to be honest. But all of a sudden made a plan for visiting this place in 2009. Initially had plans of visiting it during Navratri..but could visit it after Diwali almost end October end.
Woh kehte hain na "mata ka bulawa jab tak nahi aata, darshan safal nahi ho pati hai".
So all set and done booked my tickets for Jammu Tawi on Radhani from New Delhi for the darshan. The previous night before the journey i reached delhi and put up at my sisters place, as the train was on the next day.
The next day my BIL came to drop me at NDLS and as i boarded the train, my inner voice spoke up.
"Chal pada ek akela musafir, apne mukam ki talash mein"
BIL bade me as the train chugged off for the destination i was heading to. As for me, i was feeling enchanted, excited and thrilled for what was coming up ahead for this banjara.
Next day morning the train reached Jammu Tawi station (that time this was the terminal station in J&K). The station was very ill equipped to say the least. Anyways once out of the station took an auto (the only public transport available) to the city. Now for going to a darshan at Vaishno Devi or further for Srinagar you can either hire a car or take a bus. Though there are buses run by the State transport dept, but i preferred to travel on a pvt bus. It was semi luxury medium sized bus, with push-back seats. I also took a round trip ticket for some add-on discount.
Once the tickets were booked I had around 3-4hrs to spare, as the bus would only leave at 2pm. So, I planned to have some lunch before leaving. Now looking for food, that too for a single traveler like me is not so difficult task, or is it? Well lets find out.
Now the buses leave from the airport road of Jammu city, and this area though being a CBD of Jammu city, still u would hardly find a decent place to have some food, and me being a foodie and choosy bout food it took me some time to find a decent food joint. Finally had some tandoori roti and chole and then took an auto back to the point from where the buses would leave for Katra. This is the town which is situated at the foothills of Vaishno Devi Temple.
Finally around 1.30 I reached the spot from where one could board these buses. Now being October end the weather was more than pleasant out there and the place was full of activities. So for traveling also I preferred for a non ac bus. The journey was pretty much uneventful till the check post before entering Katra city. It was a 2.30 hrs ride and another 1.15 hrs for the stopovers. In between we made pit stop at a dhaba as there was a convoy of army vehicles to pass. Hence it was also utilized as a water and loo break. Now J&K being a disputed area there is a huge, in fact largest presence of army and so they have their cantts just after leaving Jammu city. Now we could only leave after the convoy would pass, but en route I had already made up mind of visiting for darshan today night only. The plan was such that after checking in the hotel, which was previously booked, I would freshen up, and take a short nap for an hour and then set off for the journey of 7.5kms..of course walking. But given the waiting time, i was in deep thought whether or not i would be able to get my power nap. While i was busy thinking all these, suddenly there was a shrill noise of blaring sirens followed by a convey of 50-60 army trucks passing in a very disciplined manner. As soon as the convoy passed ours bus was the first vehicle to leave. Things were running too good to make me realize that it is either some divine intervention or something weird is gonna happen! Lets see what happens next
And as told earlier we had to stop at the check post. Now these check post are manned by CRPF and State Police jointly. There were few more vehicles already waiting. Now these cops check the bus, its passengers (only male) and their luggage. Checking is very strict and each and every baggage is checked. The cops might charge you if u resist them or if u r found carrying any sharp object. Luckily or not i don't know, i was the only one in the bus whose baggage was not checked at all, had it been checked they would have grilled me, as I was carrying a pocket knife along with me, which i guess falls under sharp objects.
After all these hassles, our bus rolled out of the check post and we finally made it to the Katra Central Bus Stand at around 4.45pm which could have completed by 3.30-3.45pm, had there been no additional delay. Now due this journey and previous night train journey I was already starting to feel tired.
Now comes the main yatra part, which will be covered in my next part of the blog. Will the yatra be a successful one? or will there be obstacles en route? To find out stay tuned for the second part, and i bet you, u guys gonna enjoy it. Till then stay safe and God Bless u guys! Before leaving i am just sharing with u guys a pic of the Central Bus Stand and the bus in which I was travelling.
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| This is the Central Bus Stand |
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| And this was the Bus in which we traveled from Jammu to Katra |
Jai Mata Di
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Banjara_the nomadic
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