Vaishno Devi is a manifestation of the Hindu mother goddess Durga or Adi Shakti. The words "Maa" and "Mata" are commonly used in India for mother, and thus are often heavily used in connection with the goddess. Vaishno Devi took avatar from the combined energies of Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasaraswati.
Katra is a town in the Reasi district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, situated at the foot of the Trikuta Mountains, where the shrine of Vaishno Devi is located. Katra is located 24 km from the town of Reasi, 42 km (26 mi) from the city of Jammu and around 685 km (426 mi) north of the national capital New Delhi and is the base for pilgrims visiting the Mata Vaishno Devi Temple.
Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capital and the Northern Command headquarters of the Indian Army. A Forward Base Support Unit (FBSU) of the Indian Air Force is also stationed here. Udhampur is used by the Armed Forces as a transit point between Jammu and Srinagar when travelling by road on National Highway 1A, which has since been renamed as National Highway 44.
Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. A cave situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 168 km from Anantnag city, the district headquarters, 141 km (88 mi) from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, reached through either Sonamarg or Pahalgam. The shrine represents an important part of Hinduism. The cave, located in Sind Valley, is surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains and is covered with snow most of the year, except for a short period in the summer, when it is open to pilgrims. In 1989, pilgrims numbered between 12,000 and 30,000. In 2011, the numbers reached a peak, crossing 6.3 lakh (630,000) pilgrims. In 2018 pilgrims numbered 2.85 lakh (285,000). The annual pilgrimage has varied between 20 and 60 days.
Udhampur is a district in the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Covering an area of 4,550 square kilometres (1,760 sq mi) in the Himalayan mountains, the district has its headquarters in the town of Udhampur. The Northern Command headquarters of the Indian Army is located in the district.
Nagrota is a town located in the Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It is located on National highway 44 between Jammu city and Udhampur. It is situated on the bank of River Tawi. Nagrota along with Kashmiri Pandit Migrant town of Jagti straddle the national highway. Nagrota is the first shrine stoppage for Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. The Kol-Kandoli temple is a mandate for completing the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage. Nagrota has an extension of Jammu Industries having Oil Depots and Godowns.It serves as headquarter of the XVI Corps (India) also known as the 'White Knight Corp'.
Jammu and Kashmir is home to several valleys such as the Kashmir Valley, Chenab Valley, Sindh Valley and Lidder Valley. Some major tourist attractions in Jammu and Kashmir are Srinagar, with its renowned Dal Lake and Mughal Gardens, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Bhaderwah, Patnitop and Jammu. Every year, thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit holy shrines of Vaishno Devi and Amarnath which has had a significant impact on the state's economy.
The 2008 Naina Devi temple stampede occurred on 3 August 2008 in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. 146 people died and 150 were injured when they were crushed, trampled, or forced over the side of a ravine by the movement of a large panicking crowd. Witness accounts suggest that events were initiated after a rain shelter collapsed, which worshipers mistakenly took to be a landslide. There were as many as 3000 devotees at the temple because it was a sacred place in the holy month of Shraavana of the Hindu Calendar. According to Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior police officer from the area, at least 40 of the victims were children.
A human stampede occurred on 30 September 2008, at the Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, in which 224 people were killed and more than 425 injured. The 15th-century temple is dedicated to the goddess Chamunda Devi and is located within the premises of Mehrangarh Fort.
The Pratapgarh stampede was an incident that occurred on 4 March 2010, at Ram Janki temple of the Kripalu Maharaj ashram in Kunda, Uttar Pradesh, India, that killed 63 people and seriously injured 74 more. The incident occurred as 10,000 people attended the temple to receive free items, such as clothes and food, on the first anniversary of the death of the wife of Kripalu Maharaj.
S. P. Varma is a social worker and a peace activist from Jammu and Kashmir who has made exemplary contribution by spreading the message of peace in trouble-torn areas of the Kashmir valley. He met Nirmala Deshpande, an eminent Gandhian, at Jammu in 1990. Inspired by her work and dedication, he left his government job and dedicated himself to Gandhism.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station is a railway station on the Jammu Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Railway Link in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It mainly serves for the town of Katra where the major hindu divine temple Shri Mata Vaishno Devi is situated which is visited by millions of travellers per month with the help of this station and its frequent special trains connectivity from all over India. The station belongs to the Firozpur division of Northern Railway zone in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Jammu division is a revenue and administrative division within Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory of India. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal Range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the eastern districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Its principal river is the Chenab.
The 22461/22462 Shri Shakti Express is an AC Superfast Express run by Indian Railways between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway stations in India.
On 10 April 2016 at approximately 03:30 AM IST, the Puttingal Temple in Paravur, Kollam, Kerala, India, experienced an explosion and fire after firework celebrations went awry. As a result, 111 people were killed and more than 350 were injured, including some with severe burns. The temple and at least 150 houses in the area of the temple were damaged by the blast. According to local reports and eyewitnesses, the explosion and fire were caused by sparks from a firecracker being used in a competitive fireworks display igniting fireworks in a concrete storehouse. The temple did not have permission from Kerala government authorities to conduct a "competitive fireworks display". About 15,000 pilgrims were visiting the temple to mark local Hindu celebrations during the last day of a seven-day festival of the goddess Bhadrakali.
On 10 July 2017, the first Monday of the month of Shraavana, 8 Hindu civilian pilgrims on the way from Amarnath Temple in Kashmir Valley, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, were killed in a terror attack. The pilgrims mostly belonged to the Indian state of Gujarat. Seven people were killed and at least 18 people were injured in the attack.
The Vaishno Devi Temple also referred to as Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple and Vaishno Devi Bhavan is a prominent and widely revered Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Vaishno Devi. It is located in Katra, Reasi on the slopes of Trikuta Hills within the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir in India. The temple is recognized as one of the 108 Maha (major) Shakti Peethas dedicated to Durga, who is worshipped as Vaishno Devi. Having the principal aspect of Durga, hindus consider Vaishno Devi as an incarnation of Kali, Saraswati and Lakshmi. The temple is governed by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), chaired by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir in August 1986.
Vishwamurti Shastri is a Sanskrit scholar with knowledge of Vedic literature and related subjects. He served as a principal of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Jammu. He was appointed to Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in 2019. He is director of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul, Katra. He also serves as the chairman of J&K Dharmarth Trust Advisory Committee.
Dharmarth Trust in Jammu and Kashmir was founded by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846 as an endowment for religious charity, and to manage and support Hinduism. In 1884, and under Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the Ain-i-Dharmath or 'The Regulations for the Dharmarth Trust' were formulated and a government department for religious affairs was created. The trust helped the Dogra dynasty to consolidate and validate its control over its territory and over the functioning of Hinduism in the region.
The 2023 Rajouri attacks occurred on 1 and 2 January 2023, respectively at the Dangri village of Rajouri district in the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The first attack, a shooting, resulted in the death of four and injured nine others. In the second attack, an IED exploded near the same attack site, resulting in the death of a child at the scene and injuring five others. A second child injured in that blast died from injuries, raising the overall death toll to six.
