Navratri festival begins at Mata Vaishnodevi cave shrine in J&K's Reasi

Jammu: Amid multi-tier security arrangements, the nine-day-long festival of Navratri began with religious fervor, as over 45,000 pilgrims undertake the pilgrimage daily to pay obeisance at the cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi in the Trikuta hills of Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), which manages the yatra, has started new registration counters at the Katra railway station to ease the process for the pilgrims in light of the expected influx during the Navratri period.

The Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra has been adorned with indigenous and foreign flowers, and large pandals have been set up in the Bhawan area for the auspicious occasion.

"I congratulate all the devotees on the occasion of Shardiya Navratri. We welcome them here and hope that thousands of pilgrims from across the globe will come to pay their obeisance," Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anshul Garg told reporters.

He assured that all necessary arrangements have been made to ensure a comfortable and peaceful yatra for the pilgrims.

"There has been a heavy rush of pilgrims since yesterday with over 45,000 devotees registered and we expect a similar footfall today," he added.

Multi-tier security measures have been implemented to ensure an incident-free yatra.

"Police, CRPF and Shrine Board security personnel have been deployed along the track from Katra to Bhawan. Elaborate security arrangements have been made following a full review," Garg said.

In response to the heavy rush of pilgrims, crowd management systems integrated with CCTV and RFID surveillance systems have been put in place.

"As many as 650 CCTV cameras are active with integrated cards to monitor all movements and a skywalk has been introduced for crowd management," he said.

Additionally, a new langar will be set up at Ardh Kuwari to provide facilities for the pilgrims, supplementing the three major langars already in place.

The CEO said the board has taken additional initiatives this year.

"We are launching registration counters at Katra railway station, which will start functioning from tomorrow. Eight such counters are operational now," Garg added.

Thousands of devotees are enthusiastically undertaking the pilgrimage, viewing it as a chance to seek the blessings of Mata Vaishnodevi during Navratri. The shrine is approximately 15 kilometers uphill walk from the base at Katra.

Long queues were seen at the temple since early morning.

"We greet every devotee on Navratri and seek blessings not only for our families but for the entire nation, wishing for peace, progress and prosperity," said Sunit Kharu, a devotee from Maharashtra's Pune.

Navratri is an annual festival celebrated to worship Goddess Durga, with the celebrations lasting for nine days.

At Bhawan, prayers marked the onset of the nine-day Shardiya Navratri festival.

In Jammu, there were long queues seen at Mata Kali temple popularly know as Bawewali Mata located at Bahu fort in Jammu. Hundreds of devotees were lined up since pre-dawn time to pay obeisance at the deity.