City-information for Jammu

Temples Accomodation Travel City Information Map

Jammu is the closest big town to the Vaishno Devi Temple. In the summer it is hot, but temperatures can go down to (390F) in the winter. There have been problems here with militants, so it is best to check on the current situation of the area before you come here.

This is an important cave temple where the three major goddesses are worshiped. It is dedicated to the goddesses Laksmi, Kali, and Saraswati. The goddess Durga is said to have killed the demon Bhairon here. Vaishno Devi is 61 km north of Jammu and 14 km from Katra. The cave is at an elevation of I ,700m (5,100 ft) and is 30m (93 ft) long and just 1.5m (5 ft) high.

Vaishno Devi is a hard four-hour (13 km) climb from Katra. The best time to come is March to July, as the rest of the time of the year it can be very cold. The main pilgrimage time is March-April and Sept-Oct. In 1986, 1.6 million people came here, or 15 to 20 thousand people a day. The cave ideally handles just 8 or 10 thousand people a day, as only 12 or 15 people are let into the cave at a time. On the full moon day in Kartika (Oct/ Nov) the line to get into the cave can be four km long. It is believed that the arm of Sati fell at this place.