Around 50 Lakh pay obeisance at Vaishno Devi shrine in 6 months

After remaining affected due to Covid-19 restrictions in last couple of years following, the pilgrimage to revered Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district seems to be pre-pandemic returning levels, as in first six months of the current year around 50 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the Cave shrine so far.

Thousands are descending every day from within states and other parts of the country. Though there has been a let up in daily footfall following Amatnath yatra, it appears that the footfall may cross 1 crore mark by the year end.

In first six months of last year-till June, 18,88,188 devotees had paid obeisance at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, while in the first 6 months of the ongoing year i.e. till June, the pilgrimage has seen an upward trend as a total of 45,96,453 has paid obeisance.

In June on an average 40000 to 45000 pilgrims offered prayers at the shrine on daily basis. The first few days of July had some impact on the arrival of pilgrims at the shrine as he daily number has come down between 28000 to 33000 thousands due to rainy season and commencement of Amarnath yatra.

On Monday, about 28000 devotees paid obeisance at the Cave shrine while till Tuesday afternoon on about 19000 devotees had left for Maa Vaishno Devi Bhawan, while the devotees are descending in large numbers.
In first six months of the current year, 2708265 more pilgrims visited the cave shrine in comparison with first six months of last year.

In last January, a total of 438521 devotees paid obeisance, in February 361074 devotees, in March, 778669 devotees, in April 902192, in May, a total of 986766, in June 11292311. Similarly, in the first six months of the ongoing year i.e. till the month of June, a total of 4596453 devotees visited Maa Vaishno Devi, while in the first six months of the last, a total of 1888188 devotees paid obeisance at the Cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.

Ever since the inception of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in 1986, the shrine has witnessed an ever-increasing number of devotees. The footfall in the yatra which was 13.96 lakh in 1986, increased to its highest of 1.04 core in 2012. It saw 93.24 lakh pilgrims in 2013, 78.03 lakh in 2014, 77.76 lakh in 2015, 77.23 lakh in 2016, 81.78 lakh in 2017 and 85.87 lakh pilgrims in 2018.