Vaishno Devi

Thursday was the big day when I visited the religious shrine which is a must for all Indians-Vaishno Devi.I climbed this tremendous thirteen kilometer hill and had my Darshan at the peak.When you climb it,you put all your fears aside.People from all around the world fill the hill with determination and strength as pilgrims,visitors and climbers come day and night to worship the three pindies symbolising Mata Durga's meditation.I started off on the morning, with each of us carrying sticks to help us walk steep heights.We walked for some time in the start but the blistering heat certainly got the better of us, so some of many horses helped us complete our journey. The views were breathtaking.As we reached the halfway point, we had a quick breakfast and set off again.As the horses went up and up,the road was not so steep anymore and we gave the horses a rest and walked.It was an uphill task.As we walked because of the sun we stopped by quite some times to refresh us with water and cold drinks.But we had to be quick, because there were a few monkeys wandering around,thirsty for our drinka as they already had stolen some.Our family finally reached the bhawan where we got refreshed as we took a quick bath and changed our clothes.We recieved Parshad and for the first time,I walked into a real cave where I saw the three rocks that we longed to spot.The walls were really cold and so was the water.It really was amazing!As we had a train to catch, we had to be swift so an auto gave us a boost to the halfway point from where we clung on to horses but going downhill was really uncomfortable and it pained and as we reached a down welet out a sigh of relief.And we walked the rest and we were out of the hill.What a mind blowing day it had been!Phew!