Vaishno Devi Yatra temporarily closed, Shrine Board’s decision for huge crowd of devotees during Navratri

Udhampur21 March. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra in Katra has been temporarily closed. Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has taken this decision due to the increasing crowd of devotees during Chaitra Navratri.

It is noteworthy that rain continues in Katra. The weather has been deteriorating continuously for the last three days, due to which there has been a change in the weather and the cold on the building has increased. Amidst the increasing crowd of devotees, the Shrine Board temporarily closed all the Yatra Registration Centers at 4 pm on Saturday. Before this, approximately 41 thousand devotees got registered.

tight security arrangements

At the same time, in view of the crowd of devotees, the security arrangements are also tight. Police, CRPF and other security agencies personnel were deployed at every nook and corner. From the Darshan Gate to the building premises, every important place is being strictly monitored. Apart from this, the disaster management team and Seva Mitras of the Shrine Board are also continuously engaged in helping the devotees.

A senior official of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said that till 10 pm on the first day of Navratri (Thursday), around 31,690 pilgrims visited the cave temple and paid obeisance at the temple. The nine-day Navratri festival began grandly on March 19. Authorities expect more than 30,000 pilgrims daily.

15 Thousand people got registered

Decorated with fresh flowers and illuminated with colorful lights, this cave temple is attracting huge crowds of pilgrims. Officials said more than 15,000 pilgrims registered for the yatra on Friday, while hundreds of people flocked to the building since morning for darshan.

Earlier on Thursday, despite heavy rain, a large number of devotees, chanting ‘Jai Mata Di’, walked on a winding road to the Mata Vaishno Devi temple situated on the Trikuta hills to have darshan and seek the blessings of the goddess.