Over 86 lakh pilgrims visit cave shrine of Mata Vashno Devi in J&K

Jammu: Over 86 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine atop Trikuta Hills of Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district so far this year, a senior official of the shrine board said.

The official added that the inflow of pilgrims is expected to increase further as the year draws to a close, with the figure likely to surpass 95 lakh by the end of December.

"Till yesterday, this year, 86 lakh pilgrims visited the cave shrine and paid obeisance," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Anshul Garg, said.

He said that the number of pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi has been rising each year.

"Last year, the yatra set a new record of 95 lakh, surpassing a significant milestone in 2023. It is expected to pick up further in the coming days," he said.

As per the monthly figures, a total of 616,609 devotees visited Mata Vaishno Devi in January this year, followed by 432,925 in February, 861,517 in March, 955,575 in April, 1,164,301 in May, 1,115,719 in June, 765,726 in July, 573,730 in August, 678,484 in September, and 874,657 in October.

The daily pilgrim count averaged between 14,000 and 18,000, in the latter half of October, due to the festive season, officials said.

Following Diwali and other festivals, daily pilgrim counts have increased again, currently ranging between 28,000 and 38,000, they said.

From 13.95 lakh in 1986, when the shrine board took over the affairs of the shrine for better management, there has been a steady increase in pilgrim footfall with each passing year, touching an all-time high of 1.04 crore in 2012, against 1.01 crore the previous year (2011).

The shrine has, in recent years, seen a few additions in terms of facilities, including a skywalk at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan, a Durga Bhavan, new community kitchen and railway registration centres.

The skywalk and a remodelled Parvati Bhavan were inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu. Moreover, the shrine's base camp in Katra now boasts a state-of-the-art call centre, which operates round-the-clock and manages nearly 2,500 calls every day from pilgrims across the world.