33 crore gods and goddesses have worshipped the goddess. Maa Vaishno Devi.
Maa Vaishno Devi-
There is a mountain named Shatashringa in the north-west at a distance of 45 miles from Jammu city. The city of Katra is situated at the foot of this mountain. In the middle of this mountain is the holy cave of Mata Vaishno. It is built in a layered rock spread for miles from Chidi village to Reasi under Udhampur Mandal of Jammu. When Mata Vaishno reached this place chasing Mahishasur from Adi Kumari place, after killing Mahishasur outside the cave, she decided to do penance in this cave.
Maa Vaishno Devi-
There are three idols on the natural rock, Mahasaraswati’s in the right part, Vaishnavi’s in the middle and Mahakali’s original Parashakti is one on the left part, hence this idol is also one from the original. And is about five to six feet long. Coming up, this pindi has three different forms due to the distinction of Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasi.
These three pindis are decorated with gold leaves and golden crowns and golden umbrellas are adorned on everyone’s head. The idols of these goddesses are installed in the background of these three pindis, symbolizing the three forms of both.
The middle pindi is of Mata Mahalakshmi– Mahalakshmi is the power of Vishnu and her other name is Vaishnavi. This Vaishnavi is the supreme power.
According to the scriptures, the name of the goddess who has the most pure Satsvarupa is Mahalakshmi. She is the power of the supreme God Shri Hari, a lotus with a thousand petals is her seat.
The beauty of her (Maa Vaishno Devi) face is like melted gold.
Her form is full of the radiance of millions of moons. There is always a smile on the face of Mata Mahalakshmi. Being the goddess of wealth, she provides wealth, prosperity, happiness, success and salvation to her servants.
This power is the cause of all this–
Maa Vaishno Devi- is the supreme wife and remains engrossed in the service of her lord Shri Hari in Vaikunth Lok. The second pindi in the cave is of Mata Mahakali. Mahakali is the main part of Mahashakti. She appeared from the forehead of Bhagwati Durga during the great war with Shumbh and Nishubh. She is considered to be the half part of Bhagwati Durga. She is equal to Durga in qualities and brilliance. Her extremely powerful body is as radiant as millions of suns. She is the chief among all the powers and there is no one more powerful than her. She is the ultimate yoga form and bestows complete siddhi. She is the exclusive devotee of Shri Hari. She is equal to Shri Hari in brilliance, power and qualities. Her body is black in colour and is so powerful that if she wants, she can destroy the whole world in a single breath. For her own entertainment or to educate the public, she fights with the demons. Whoever worships Mahakali Bhagvati, gets Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha and other worldly wealth. Brahma, sages and humans all worship her.
One of her famous names is Chamunda– In the war with the demons, she killed two great demons named Chand-Mund, so she also came to be known as Chamunda.
When Madhu-Kaitabh was in trouble, she freed Brahma and Vishnu from fear. By her grace, man becomes fearless. No one can defeat her in war.
The third pindi in the cave is of Mahasaraswati–
Maa Vaishno Devi- name of the third major form of Mahashakti is Mahasaraswati. She establishes a relationship with Parabrahma Parmatma. She is the presiding deity of speech, the favorite goddess of poets, she is pure truthful and peaceful. This is the goddess who gives speech, learning, intellect and knowledge. Hence, her grace is necessary for superiority in speech, proficiency in learning and arts, prodigality in intellect and scholarship in knowledge.
The body of Maa Saraswati is of very fair complexion. She is extremely beautiful and radiant. Her body shines so much with the aura of brilliance that the aura of millions of moons also appears insignificant in front of it.
By her grace, all the confusions and doubts related to scriptures and knowledge are eliminated. Some people become scholars and succeed in creating new ideas and new texts. Maa Saraswati who gives memory power to humans is called memory power, knowledge power and intelligence power. Her idol and imagination power are also the same.
Her idol is full of penance. She gives immediate results to her devotee who does penance. Being the form of Siddhi Vidya, she is the one who gives Siddhi.
Travel story–Maa Vaishno Devi-
Vaishno Mata Mandir
The holy cave is about 98 feet long. There are many other symbolic darshans inside and outside the cave. It is believed that all the 33 crore gods and goddesses have worshipped the goddess at some point of time in this cave and have left their marks.
It is also believed that during morning and evening prayers and aarti, the gods and goddesses come to the holy cave to worship the goddess.
On the left hand side of the cave mouth, there is a darshan of Vaktunda Shri Ganesh. Nearby are the symbols of Surya and Chandradev. As soon as you enter the cave, there is a rock-like pot of Bhairon Nath. After the torso of Maron Nath, there is a darshan of Shri Hanuman and at the same place, Charan Ganga coming from the holy feet of the goddess flows gurgling. After this place, the traveler has to proceed forward through the water of this Charan Ganga from where at a distance of 23 feet, on the left hand side, the roof of the cave seems to be resting on the innumerable hoods of Sheshnaag. Under the hood of Sheshnaag, there is the havan kund of the goddess and near it are the symbols of the goddess’ conch, chakra, mace and lotus. Above it, touching the roof of the cave, there are symbols of five Pandavas, Sapta Srishti, Kamdhenu’s udder, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh and Shiva Parvati.