Heaven on Earth - Katra

The Vaishnodevi yatra is the pilgrimage of the Hindus to the famous place of worship of goddess Vaishno Devi which situated in the caves of Trikuta Mountains. It is the most popular spiritual place and the call of the goddess has inverted many nonbelievers to become steadfast believers of the god. It is believed that no prayers go unanswered here in the shrine of the goddess and it is best place to incapacitate and the demoralized people. About 61 km from Jammu, is the Katra from where visitors passes for this yatra. The best seasons to visit this place is March to July. It is extremely cold in the rest of the months. Another good time to visit this place is between September and October months. Most of the people prefer these seasons for the pilgrimage. It involves about 13.5 km of trekking or walking from Katra to the top of the temple where this cave shrine is located. It takes almost 4 hours to reach the shrine. It is located at a height of 2500 km above sea level.

Vaishno Devi can be easily reached by air, rail and road routes. Jammu is the closest airport and it is the nearest railway station. From Jammu, it will take around 2 hours to reach Katra from where the trekking starts. After walking for almost one hour from Katra, you will reach Dakshini darwaza where the Bhumika temple is situation from where the three peaks of Trikuta mountains which is domicile of the goddess is visible. It is considered that the goddess vanished from here and reached the Ban Ganga temple. It's also believed that the holy river Ban Ganga outflow from a stone when the goddess fired an arrow on it. She did this because veer langur was thirsty. The goddess used to wash her hair here so it is called Ban Ganga. Pilgrims usually take bath here to purify themselves. From Katra, about 1.5 km from Ban Ganga, there is a place where the 'holy footmarks' of the goddess is seen on a stone. This place is also named as Charanpaduka.

Some other places to visit are Ardh Kuwari where many pilgrims stay here overnight to take the rest Cheap Flight Tickets . The goddess had hidden herself for about 9 months here in cave called garbha joon. It is about 15 km long cave and the pilgrims have to crawl inside it to cross it. After Ardh Kuwari, the pigrims have to cross very steep paths for about 2.5 km Cheap Domestic Tickets. This increasing slope is called the Hathi Mata ascent. This is called as the mountain is shaped like the forehead of an elephant .

You can reach Katra by using International Flights Tickets , train or bus services. There are many super fast train and air conditioned Volvo buses available for the tourists. You can also reach Katra by Jammu as it takes around one and a half hour to reach. You can easily get cheap air tickets from many travel companies. They not only provide tickets, but also provide other facilities like train tickets, bus tickets and hotel stay as per your budget.