Take blessings and relax in the soul-stimulating serenity of one of the most famous Hindu Temples, Vaishno Devi. It is a cave temple situated in Katra at the Trikuta Mountains of Jammu and Kashmir. The principal deity is Vaishno Devi, a manifestation of Hindu Goddesses viz. Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali. Every year over lakhs of people from all walks of life visit the holy shrine to pay obeisance to the goddess.
According to the legend, when Goddess was fighting with Asuras, her three main manifestations viz. Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati united to form one strong Tejas or spiritual strength. A young beautiful girl appeared from the Tejas and questioned her existence. The three goddesses explained the purpose of her creation was for helping and upholding righteousness.
The girl then magically took birth in the house of Ratankar and his wife who lived in South India. Devis told her that once she reaches a higher level of consciousness, she will merge into Lord Vishnu and become one. The couple named the child Vaishnavi; she grew up with insatiable hunger for knowledge. One day she gave up all household comforts and left for thick forests for Tapasya (meditation). At the same time, Lord Rama, during his exile came across Vaishnavi. She recognized him instantly as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and asked him to merge with her to become one with supreme power. However, owing to the inappropriate timing Lord Rama dissuaded her by promising to visit her again, post his exile and will fulfill her wish if she succeeds in recognizing him. As promised, he later visited her but she failed to recognize him in disguise of an old man. To her dismay, Rama explained to her that the right time had not come and he will meet her again in 'Kaliyug' in the form of Kalki. He also told her to go the Northern part and set up an Ashram at the foothills of Trikuta Hills for meditation. She followed him and went to the mountains for meditation.
The tale spread by word of mouth following which locals started visiting Vaishnavi to seek blessings. Meanwhile, Maha Yogi Guru Goraksh Nath Ji, who was aware of the goddess and Lord Rama, tried to find out about Vaishnavi by sending his disciple 'Bhairon Nath'. Their confrontation lead to a battle and furious Mata Vaishno Devi beheaded Bhairo Nath at the mouth of the cave. Upon death, he realized his mistake and pleaded for forgiveness. Goddess then blessed him with a boon that every pilgrim will have to do darshan of Bhairo Nath, only then the pilgrimage will be considered successful. She decided to leave the human form and immersed in the rock into meditation forever. Thus, goddess Vaishnavi is present in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in the form of a five and a half feet tall rock called 'Pindies' with three heads. It is enshrined inside the holy cave at a sacred spot.
The chief priests perform Aarti of the Goddesses daily twice a day; the first one in the morning before sunrise and the second one immediately before the sunset. Each aarti takes approximately two hours during which darshans are suspended for devotees.
MarcoFrance1965
UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE !
I just came back from a 12 days Rajasthan tour. It was just myself and my 14 year olde daughter. I found Caper surfing the web and had non suggestion from friends and had never read comments or reviews about it. Totally "blind-choice". I was very lucky. The organization was really excellent. The agent that followed us, Mr. Praveen Juyal did a great job. I decided our itinerary and he punctually gave me suggestions on the best management of my choices. The hotel choice was fine and confirmed expectations. We had tour guides in every site seeing location and they were all extremely professional, very punctual and really kind and polite.
But I must say that what made the trip even better was our driver; Mr. Deshraj.
One of those persons that you really wish you could meet once in your life. Not only an excellent driver but always helpful, respectful and friendly. He explained us many things about Indian life along the journey and sometimes stopped for short breaks in beautiful places on the road that were not even mentioned in the guide books. My only regret is that at the end of the trip I didn't have much money left and I left a tip probably not adeguate for the kind of service but I will definitely send him try to sort this maybe in a next trip. Thank you very much Caper and Deshraj.
Dreamer802943
A Memorable Trip
We recently concluded a 12 day driving tour of New Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan with Caper Travel. It was most enjoyable !! The logistics arrangements were excellent - from tour planning , hotel selection , vehicle condition to driver. Mr Alok handled the planning, and Mr Vikram was our Tempo driver throughout the journey. Mr Vikram was very helpful , accommodating and patient throughout the tour, despite long hours of driving on the roads ( not to mention India traffic}. We would not hesitate to recommend Caper to our fellow travellers who are thinking of visiting India. Thank You Caper !
goochie33, London, United Kingdom
Golden triangle goa and mumbia
Just come back from an amazing 2 week trip to India. First we done the golden triangle which we chose to do the train trip from Delhi to Agra a must you have to do if not just for the experience. All the cities were wonderful but be prepared to see lots of temple one seems to run into another but wow the taj was my highlight along with the Hindu temple in Delhi. The driving the cows the dogs are everywhere are all an experience. Goa was beautiful we stayed at the taj exotica. In mumbia we done a city tour and ended our trip in the taj for afternoon tea another must. It is a exhilarating trip but one I will never forget. From booking with Manika to all the drivers and guides they were always there to meet us from the airport and hotels on time. They really looked after us thank you all.
Aileen M
Wonderful trip
We have just returned from our first trip to India and we must say it was absolutely fascinating. The itinerary was first class and covered everything we could have wished for. On arrival we were met by a very nice rep and driver who took us to our hotel and sorted out the necessary paperwork with us. We had our driver Vishan for our time in the north and he was terrific, kept the vehicle spotless and kept us supplied with water. We then flew to the south of India and met up with our driver Suhdeer who again was very nice and very informative about things as we drove along. The guides we had on all our trips were excellent and again very informative.
The only down side to it all was that in our package we paid for the drivers accommodation, food and allowance only to find out that the drivers don’t receive this money and if they want accommodation they have to pay for it themselves. We ended up paying one of our drivers an amount for the nights that we had him for him to get somewhere to sleep and food as we were concerned that if he slept in his car he wouldn’t be rested enough to take on the next day driving for 4-5 hours.
All in all Caper Travel are excellent in their planning and can’t fault them for that.
Urquiola, New York City, New York
Caper travel
Recently traveled to India on a private guided tour with Caper Travel. Ms. Mumtaz Khan worked with me on arranging my itinerary.
She was always available to answer all my concerns immediately. On my arrival in Delhi I was welcome with warm smile at the airport by a young gentleman name Kapol Joshi . My experience with the company was amazing and I would highly recommend to anyone traveling to India.
I would also like to mention the personal attention I received at Amritsar by Aman Shara and his lovely wife who welcomed me and my son to their home
and soon to open their beautiful hotel.
Any Query? Please write us at info@india-travel-packages.in
