வைஷ்ணோ தேவி: மலையில் காத்திருக்கும் தெய்வம்

The Invitation That Cannot Be Refused

Pilgrims returning from Vaishno Devi will almost invariably tell you the same thing: the goddess called them. Not metaphorically but concretely — in a dream, in a sudden overwhelming urge that could not be explained or resisted, in a resolve that arrived fully formed without apparent provocation. The belief that Mata Vaishno Devi herself selects who may come to her for darshan — that she issues an inner summons that precedes every successful pilgrimage — is not a marginal folk superstition but a central tenet of devotion at this shrine. Those who have tried to come without this inner calling describe inexplicable obstacles: illness at the last moment, missed trains, sudden family emergencies. Those who have received the calling describe an irresistible magnetic pull toward the mountains of Jammu, a pull that becomes stronger the closer they get to the shrine. The trek itself, approximately 14 kilometres from the base camp at Katra through forests and mountain paths to the cave shrine at an altitude of 5,200 feet, is thus understood not as an effort the devotee makes but as a journey the devotee is conducted through by divine will.