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Devotees come to this temple of Mata chanting 'Jai Mata Di'. Here the joy of the devotees is to be seen. But why is this temple of mother so important and what is the story of this temple, let us know-
Story of Mata Vaishno Devi-
There is a legend associated with Mata Vaishno Devi temple, according to which 2 km from the present Katra town. Sridhar, a great devotee of Mother Vaishnavi, who was childless, lived in the village of Hansali. The pain of not having children used to haunt him moment to moment. Someone told them that if they call some unmarried girls at home and worship them, feed them, then they will get child happiness.
Taking advice, Sridhar one day called some unmarried girls to his house. But among them there was also mother Vaishno in the guise of a girl, but the devotee Sridhar was unaware of her presence. Sridhar washed the feet of all the girls with water, fed them and, taking blessings from them, sent them off.
Story of devotee sridhar-
All the girls left but mother Vaishno Devi remained there and said to Sridhar, 'You take you and nearby villages and invite people to your home for Bhandara.' Hearing the girl's words, Sridhar was at first somewhat confused, that how can a poor person feed so many people, but on the assurance of the girl, he conveyed the message of Bhandara to the villages. While passing through a village, Shridhar also invited Guru Gorakhnath and his disciple Baba Bhairavnath for food.
All the villagers were astonished by this invitation of Sridhar, they could not understand which girl is the one who wants to feed so many people? But as per the invitation everyone gathered one by one at Sridhar's house. Now everyone has come but Sridhar had nothing to feed them. Then the girl, who came in the guise of a mother, started serving food to everyone with a strange character.
When Bhaironnath came-
While serving food, when the girl went to Baba Bhairavnath, she requested the girl to eat meat and drink alcohol instead of eating Vaishnav. Everyone was astonished to hear his demand, it is impossible to have non-vegetarian food in Vaishnava Bhandara. But Bhairavnath stubbornly sat down and started saying that he will only eat non-vegetarian food, otherwise Sridhar may become the victim of his curse.
Meanwhile, the mother who came in the form of a girl had understood that Bhairavnath wanted to destroy Sridhar's bhandara by deceit, whereas Bhairavnath had also learned that she was not an ordinary girl. Thereafter Bhairavnath tried to capture the goddess but the goddess immediately changed into air form and flew towards Trikuta mountain. Bhairavnath also went after him.
Goddess took Hanumanji’s help-
It is said that when the mother reached near a cave in the hill, she called Hanumanji and requested him to keep Bhairavnath busy by any means for the next nine months and protect the goddess. As per the order, Hanuman was outside this cave with Bhairavnath to protect Mother for nine months. According to mythological facts, Hanumanji had also fought with Bhairavnath outside the cave, but when he started falling down, Mata Vaishnavi took the form of Mahakali and beheaded Bhairavnath. It is 8 km from head building. Far away, Bhairav fell in the valley of Trikuta mountain. Today this place is known as the temple of Bhaironath.
It is a belief among the devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi that whoever goes to visit the temple of Goddess, he must also visit Baba Bahiro's temple while returning, otherwise his journey will be called unsuccessful. There is also a story behind this, it is said that after regretting his actions, Bhaironath asked for forgiveness from the goddess and in return the goddess said that 'Whoever comes to this holy place to see me, he will definitely see you too. Otherwise his journey will not be called complete'.
Devotee Sridhar got ‘three pindies’
The cave where the goddess did penance is known as 'Ardhakunwari Cave'. Just near this cave is 'Banganga', this is the place where the mother quenched the thirsty Hanuman by shooting arrows. Devotees who come to Vaishno Devi temple must take a bath on this stream, the water here is considered to be nectar. In the sanctum sanctorum of the Vaishno Devi temple, three Pindis of the mother are enshrined, it is said that after giving pardon to Bhaironath, the goddess was transformed into these three Pindis and settled on this hill of Katra forever. When the devotee Sridhar came to the hill in search of the goddess in the form of a girl, he found only 3 pindies there, he also worshiped these pindies duly. Since then only Shridhar and his descendants have been worshiping these Pindis of Maa Vaishno Devi temple.
It is believed that these bodies of the mother are not ordinary, but have miraculous effects within themselves. These are the three forms of Adishakti - the first pindi belongs to Mahasaraswati, the goddess of knowledge; The second pindi is of Goddess Mahalakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and the third pindi is believed to be of Mahakali, the goddess of power. It is believed that the devotee who has darshan of these three Pindis with his heart gets knowledge, wealth and power.
