Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 7: Pilgrimage to holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji has gone up by about 80,000 this year so far as compared to last year even though over 2.2 lakh yatris paid obeisance to the Goddess during just concluded Navratras.
About 15.85 lakh pilgrims have visited Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine, located between Trikuta Hills during first three months and a week of this year so far. The number for similar period last year was 15.05 lakh.
This year has witnessed an increase of about 80,000 in the pilgrimage so far, sources said.
During just concluded Navratras, 2,21,918 yatris had darshan of natural pindies of Mata Vaishno Devi ji. The number was almost similar last year when 2,21,711 pilgrims had visited the shrine.
During January this year, 4.54 lakh pilgrims visited the cave shrine as against 4.32 lakh of last year while the number of yatris in February stood at 3.28 lakh, which was 2.96 lakh last year.
In March, the number of yatris went up to 6.84 lakh as against 6.48 lakh of last year. In first five days of April, the number of yatris stood at 1.18 lakh as against 1.27 lakh of last year.
The total yatra during 2016 stood at 77.25 lakh, almost close to the figure of 2015, which was 77.76 lakh. In 2014 also, the yatra was 77.65 lakh, which indicated that the pilgrimage for the past three years was constant around 7.7 million.
Pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi was just 13.95 lakh in 1986 when Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board ( SMVDSB) had taken over affairs of the shrine. Since then, the yatra continued to go up every year creating new records but the decline starts in 2013.
It was for the first time in 1991 that the pilgrimage had crossed 3 million (31.15 lakh). The 4 million mark was reached in 1996 while the yatra touched 50 lakh in 2000 and 60 lakh in 2004. It was in 2007 that the yatra stood at 74.17 lakh.
The pilgrimage came down to 67.92 lakh in 2008 due to two months long Amarnath land agitation but again went up to 82 lakh in 2009 and reached 87.2 lakh in 2010.
In 2011, the pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine had, for the first time, crossed 10 million mark and stood at 1.01 crores. It went up to 1.04 crores in 2012 but came down to 92.43 lakh in 2013.
During 2016, pilgrimage in the month of January stood at 4.32 lakh, which came down to 2.96 lakh in February but again jumped to 6.48 lakh in March, 7.56 lakh in April, 9.81 lakh in May and 12.21 lakh in June before it again started a decline and stood at 7.16 lakh in July, 6.19 lakh in August, 5.67 lakh in September, 5.83 lakh in October, 4.48 lakh in November and 4.5 lakh in December.
Sources said barring weekends, the pilgrimage to holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji has been averaging 20,000. However, the number significantly goes up at the weekends 25,000-35,000.
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