New ‘golden gate’ at Vaishno Devi to greet pilgrims this Navratri

Come Navratri, pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine will be greeted by a new golden door adoring the entrance of the main cave shrine.
Reportedly, the golden gate will be replacing the existing one that is made of marble at the entrance.News has it that it took 11 kg of gold, 1100 kg silver and 1200 kg copper to build this gate. To beef up the safety of the shrine, around 350 cameras will be installed around the main temple, and its master control room will be in Katra. The CRPF, Police, and the shrine board will be joint monitoring the area, which will become a permanent activity by the end of this year.

Reportedly, the grand golden gate will have carved images of Goddess Vaishno Devi, Mahagauri, Siddhidatri, Kalratri, Chamunda, and others. A 6-ft tall image of Goddess Lakshmi will be towards the right of the entrance together with a special prayer room for aarti on the left side.
In addition, an image of Lord Ganesha with Brahma, Maha Vishnu, Shiva, Hanuman and Lord Surya will be installed in the place around the entrance of the cave shrine.



The golden gate will have golden flags, a dome and a golden umbrella. A bell made of gold and silver, as heavy as 25 kg, will be hung inside.

During the Navratri festival, Hydrangea from Malaysia, Tulips from Holland, Cymbidium from Thailand and Orchids from Singapore will be brought to decorate the gate.
To accomplish this project in the set time frame, about 20 craftsmen from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have been working hard. The funding for the project has been done by the devout donors.

As a special treat for the pilgrims during the upcoming festival, the entire trekking route from the base point to the main shrine will be lit up by the shrine board. Also, the shrine board will serve free food at the langar to the pilgrims including the ones who are observing the Navratri fast.