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Katra Town, lying in the foot of Trikuta Mountains, 48 kms. from Jammu, serves as the base camp for visiting the famous shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, which is approachable on foot along a 13 kms long well laid footpath. Every year, more than 4.5 million pilgrims pass through Katra on their way to the holy shrine.
The cave shrine of Mata Vasihnodeviji or Trikuta Bhagwati (alt: 5,200 ft.) has been a beacon of faith and fulfilment to millions of devotees from all over the world. The pilgrimage to the Shrine holds great significance for the pilgrims.
From here a trek of around 12 kms takes a pilgrim to the Holy Shrine. One can undertake this trek on foot or on horses/ponies or on palanquins (palkies or dolies). While most of the pilgrims prefer to go on foot, some who find it difficult to negotiate the climb hire a pony or a palanquin.
There are various Sarais/Dharamshalas in Katra, which provide good accommodation to the pilgrims, either free of cost or at a nominal price. While some of them do provide facilities to the pilgrims, many of these places have passed in the hands of certain people with vested interests who insist on the pilgrims buying offerings from their own shops located in the premises of these Sarais. Pilgrims should be careful of such elements as they tend to sell items at a price many times higher than their original value.
There are various lodges, Guest Houses, ordinary and luxury hotels, Cottages, Resorts and all types of accommodation facilities available too, which provide accommodation to the devotees. Pilgrims have a wide range to choose from depending upon their taste and budget.
Katra has all types of vegetarian restaurants and dining places. Being a religious place, almost all these restaurants and catering outlets provide pure vegetarian food to the pilgrims in which even onion and garlic is not used. Pilgrims are also requested to preserve and uphold the sanctity of the Holy place and desist from demanding non vegetarian meals or alcohol from any outlets. Provision, General and Medical stores are available all over Katra as also at Adkuwari and Bhawan.
Many nationalized banks have their branches at Katra. The State Bank of India, Bank of Punjab and J&K Bank also provide ATM facilities at Katra. Many more banks including ICICI Bank, UTI Bank are in the process of installing their ATMs here. The J&K Bank and the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) have their branches at Bhawan also.
Jammu and Kashmir has been a symbol of eternal natural beauty since time immemorial. Few places in the subcontinent come close to the tummy-flipping beauty of the Himalayan mountain system. Like a pretty young girl, magnanimously voted by all as the beauty of her family, Jammu and Kashmir (often referred to simply, as J&K) has always been enveloped in an aura of mystery and elusiveness. J&K consist of 3 main regions: religiously oriented Jammu (the winter capital of the state), the pretty, flowery valleys of Kashmir and the cold. Whichever area you choose to start with, try completing the entire circuit to do full justice to these spellbinding lands of the North. The tourist places to visit in Jammu and Kashmir include Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Leh among others.
