Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 6: As many as 3.75 lakh pilgrims visited holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji located between Trikuta hills in Katra during eight Navratras taking total pilgrimage this year so far to 21.25 lakh. The shrine has been witnessing heavy rush these days.
This year, there were only eight Chaitra Navratras, one short from the nine. All eight Navratras witnessed arrival of average 40,000 plus pilgrims to the cave shrine.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) CEO Anshul Garg told the Excelsior that 3.75 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance to Goddess Vaishno Devi during the Navratras.
“With this, total yatra to the shrine has reached 21.25 lakh this year so far,’’ Garg said.
The shrine has been witnessing heavy rush from the middle of March after exams were over in most of the States and improvement in weather conditions.
Navratras which fall twice in a year—first during March-April and then September-October, generally draw 3 lakh to 3.5 lakh pilgrims.
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Only 17 lakh pilgrims, the lowest in over three decades, visited the shrine in 2020 when it remained closed for five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pilgrim footfall at the shrine touched an all-time high of 1.04 crore in 2012.
The number of pilgrims visiting the shrine dropped from 93.24 lakh in 2013 to 78.03 lakh in 2014, 77.76 lakh in 2015 and 77.23 lakh in 2016. It increased to 81.78 lakh in 2017 and 85.87 lakh in 2018 before dropping again in 2019 to 79.40 lakh.
In 2024, 94.84 lakh pilgrims visited the holy cave shrine. The pilgrimage was slightly down in 2024 as compared to 2023 because of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Slight decline for few days was also witnessed after terror attack on a bus carrying Shiv Khori pilgrims on June 9, 2024 in which nine yatris were killed.
However, going by the trends of first three months, the pilgrimage to the cave shrine this year could break all records and reach or cross 10 million mark. January and February are considered as lean yatra season because of extreme cold weather conditions and the pilgrimage starts picking up in March. The yatra reaches its peak from May-August due to vacations.
There were only two years—2011 and 2012 when the pilgrimage crossed one crore mark consecutively. After that the year 2023 witnessed arrival of 95.22 lakh yatris while 94.84 lakh pilgrims visited the shrine in 2024.
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