Religions of India

The temple of Mata Vaishno Devi lies at a height of 3500 feet in the Trikuta Mountains, in the state of Jammu, and each year millions of pilgrims make this journey by foot, to pay homage to the Divine Goddess. It is believed that if you ask for something with a true heart and devotion, your wish will come true. Many of these devotees come to pray to their Mata every year, unfailingly, no matter what their caste or religion.

Vaishno Devi is one of the shaktis (forms) of the Goddess Parvati. According to legend, the three main forms of Parvati are Laxmi, Kali and Saraswati. One day, the three of them combined their spiritual strength and created a beautiful young girl. She was commanded to take birth in the house of Ratankar, a good, honest and devout man, and to evolve herself spiritually until she became one with Lord Vishnu. Thus it happened that Ratankar's wife gave birth to a girl, who grew up to be as religious, devout and learned as she was beautiful. As Vaishnavi grew older, she decided to renounce the world and to live a life of penance in the forests. During this time she came across Lord Rama, whom she recognized to be a form of Vishnu, and begged him to let her merge herself with him, so she would be encompassed by her Lord. But he felt that the time wasn't right. He said that he would return after a few years, and if she recognized him again, he would grant her wish. However when he returned in the guise of an old man, Vaishnavi failed to recognize him. She was devastated, and Lord Rama consoled her. He set up and ashram for her at the foothills of the Trikuta Hills, and encouraged her to continue with her meditation. Thus, she took a vow of celibacy and resumed meditating with renewed devotion.

A devotee of Mata Vaishnodevi, Sridhar organized a Bhandara (Community meal) in which the whole village and Mahayogi Guru GorakshNathJi along with all his followers including Bhairavnath were invited as it was wish of Mata Vaishnodevi to invite MahaYogi Guru GorakshNathJi. Guru Gorakshnath visited a Bhandara along with more 300 disciples including the Bhairavnath. Bhairavnath was amazed by seeing the power of divine mother. He wanted to test her powers. For this, he asked Shiv Avatari Guru GorakshnathJi for his permission. Guru Gorakshnath said I do not recommend but still if you wanted to test, go ahead. Guru Gorakshnath and his all disciples enjoyed the pure vaishnav food and went off from there. Mahayogi Guru Gorakshnath accepted hospitality by only Mata Vaishnodevi since he follows a pure real vaishnav path. Bhairavnath stayed off to test her powers he attempted to grab Mata Vaishnodevi but she tried her best to daunt him. On failing to do so, Mata Vaishnodevi decided to flee away into the mountains to continue her Tapasaya undisturbed. BhairavNath however chased her to her destination.

However, Bhairon Nath fell in love with her, and started harassing her, by pleading with her to marry him. She refused, and journeyed up into the Trikuta Mountains to continue her penance in peace. Bhairon Nath followed her up the mountain, past Banganga. At Banganga, Mata Vaishnavi felt thirsty and shot an arrow into the ground. Water gushed out from this spot, and Mata drank some of this water and rested here. The 'Charan Paduka' marks the place where she rested.

Mata entered a cave at Adhkawari and stayed inside for nine months, during which time she mediated and prayed. The cave is thus symbolic of a womb and is called Garbh Joon. When Bhairon Nath finally located her, Mata raised her trident and lashed it against the opposite wall of the cave, creating a tiny opening, from which she crawled out. The chase continued up to the Holy Cave at Darbar. Mata was then forced to assume the form of Kali. She appeared before Bhairon Nath, and cut off his head. After his death he prayed to her for forgiveness, and she granted it to him, along with the boon that every devotee who comes to her shrine to seek her blessings would have to pay homage to Bhairon Nath afterwards, or his pilgrimage will remain incomplete.

However, legend goes that if anyone visits the Bhairon Nath cave first, he will be unable to do Mata's darshan. Stories have trickled down through the ages about various devotees who tried visiting Bhairon Nath first and then continued to pay homage to Mata, but they never made it because they fell sick, met with an accident or died on the way. One devotee even reported seeing a tiger appear before him preventing his entrance to Mata's temple.