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Trip to Katra, Mata Vaishno Devi from Mumbai

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Katra is one of the famous tourist pilgrimage destinations in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, the town is situated in the foothills of the Trikuta Mountains, about 45 km from the city of Jammu. Katra is a base camp site for tourists/devotees who visit Mata Vaishno Devi Temple, which is the main attraction here for tourists. This beautiful place is known for its scenic beauty, it also has a cool climate and offers many pleasant sightseeing views where you can also enjoy the beauty of the mountains. There are many budget hotels available in Katra to stay, which offer beautiful scenic views of green valleys around. Katra is well connected to other neighbouring cities with various means of transportation like via Air (Jammu Airport), Road and Rail transport.

Trip to Vaishno Devi Katra from Mumbai

How to reach Katra from Mumbai:

By Train:

The Town is served by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station on the JammuTawi-Udhampur-Katra railroute hence, you can reach Katra from anywhere in the country by traveling on a train.

There is a direct train between Mumbai and Katra. Swaraj Express is a superfast express train that connects Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station in Jammu to Mumbai in Maharashtra via Vadodara-Kota-New Delhi-Jammu Tawi line. The total journey between Mumbai and Katra takes around 33 hours by train.

Note: Please go through the official site of Indian Railways to get updated details about ticket fare, train arrival and departure schedule, seat availability, etc.

By Road:

Katra is accessible by road and national highways from neighbouring cities. The road distance from Mumbai to Katra is approximately 2000kms, and it will take more than 30hr to reach Katra by road from Mumbai. Hence I would suggest going by either train or flight.

By Air:

The town doesn't have its own airport, however, the Jammu airport is the nearest airport to Katra (Approximate 50Kms) and it is well connected with almost all major city airports across India.

From outside the airport, one can hire a cab/taxi or take a bus / other available public transport to reach Katra by road.

Trip to Vaishno Devi Katra

Tourist attractions / Places to visit in Katra and around / Places of interest in Katra:

1.Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple - Temple Bhawan is located about 12-13Kms from base Katra, situated in the foothills of the mountains range. The pilgrimage to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi temple (shrine) starts from the base camp at Katra. There are some modes of transportation are available to reach near Bhawan from the base (like Pony, Helicopter, Walking journey)

2.Ban Ganga, Katra

3.Bhairon Temple - Situated at approximate 2.5-3 km up from the Bhawan and it is next place to visit for the pilgrims after visiting the holy Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.

4.Shopping, Sightseeing and more …

Trip to Vaishno Devi Katra

Mumbai to Katra Trip Details:

Are you planning to visit Vaishno Devi temple, Katra (state of Jammu and Kashmir). Here in this blogpost, I am going to share my trip details and photos with you so as this will help you in planning a trip to Katra.

Day 1: Overnight journey by train from Mumbai to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. As this was our planned tour, we had already done some shopping for the trip a few days before the date of the journey also booked a ticket in advance from Bandra to Katra and seats were allotted to us in coach A3 ac 2 tier. Coming to date of the journey, early morning...I was pretty excited as I was going to visit Jammu (North side) the first time. We got ready with our luggage, hired a cab and reached the station about 40 minutes before our train was due to leave. A memorable journey was about to begin. As this was an overnight journey, we were given a bedsheet, pillow, and blanket on the train in AC coach. Our train departed from Mumbai (Bandra) as per the schedule of departure and the journey towards Katra began. After leaving Borivali, the train accelerated rapidly and maintained a good speed to reach the destination (with official halts).

Day 2: After around 33 hours' long journey, we reached Katra in the evening by 5:30. After reaching there, we proceeded to check into our hotel in Katra for taking some rest pre and post our uphill trek. Our hotel was very close to the base point. Quickly we freshened up, had our lunch in the nearby restaurant and took some rest. After having dinner at a good restaurant, we got ready to proceed towards the base point to start the trek up the hills and walk up to the shrine. We preferred night-time to trek up the hills so as to avoid scorching heat during the daytime. At around 10:30 PM, we commenced our journey by foot to Vaishnodevi Temple from the main entrance of base point, a trek of around 13kms. Once you start the trek, it's all about experiencing beautiful and scenic surrounding views of mountains and valleys, feeling the fresh air and much more to enjoy while climbing uphill. We observed that the road from start to end up to the shrine is neat and clean with full of basic facilities like food shops, restrooms, etc available which made our trek restful. To reach the temple, there are some possible modes of transport services available like Helicopter (during the daytime), Pithoo, Pony ride at defined rate. Services available between Katra To Bhawan, Katra To Adhkumari, Katra To Bhawan via Bhairon, and Katra To Sanjichhat. (Updated rates can be checked on the board). I think Yatri pass/registration is mandatory for all those who want to visit the temple, so, that thing you will have to check before proceeding to journey. It took approximately 7 hours to reach the temple by walk, and it was really interesting journey.

My trip to Katra, Vaishno devi

Day 3: We reached the temple complex in the early morning at around 5:30 am and after resting for a few minutes, stood in the queue (darshan line) for almost hrs. That day, it was crowded, I think I got into the queue at around 6 AM and after hours we got to the main temple. It took about two and a half hours to get the darshan and worship. After having a peaceful darshan and blessings, We had a quick breakfast and continued our journey towards the Bhairon temple which is Situated at approximate 2.5-3 km up from the Bhawan. At around 9:00 AM, we reached Bhairon Temple. After taking darshan, we spent some time capturing beautiful pics, walking around, etc. After a lot of enjoyment and we started walking back towards our hotel and by 4:30 PM (in the evening) we reached the base point, Katra. We had also planned for a quick sightseeing trip but as we were so tired due to a lot of walking and due to the limited time frame, we decided to go to the market for shopping. After shopping and dinner, we came back to our hotel and retired for the night. Accommodation- Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel in Katra as per tour plan.

Day 4: Overnight train journey to Mumbai - In the morning, we boarded the train for Mumbai from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway station and started our return journey towards Mumbai.

Day 5: Around 6 pm, we reached Bandra Terminal in Mumbai. From there, we booked a cab and reached home safely.

Entrance base point, Walk from Katra to Vaishno devi temple

Details of expenses during the journey from Mumbai To Katra:

1.Train Reservation ticket from Bandra Trm to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (Swaraj Express, Direct train / Paschim Express if via Delhi-Jalandhar): Rs pp (A.C. two Tier 2A).

2.Train Reservation ticket from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Bandra Trm (Swaraj Express / Paschim Express if via Delhi-Jalandhar): Rs pp (A.C. 2 Tier 2A).

3.Food and Refreshment during the journey:

4.Yatri Pass Parchi:

5.Hotel accommodation room charges:

6:Local transport / Auto (From Railway station-hotel-basecamp-hotel-Market-station etc.):

7:Locker Charges:

8.Shopping and other:

Way To Bhawan

Note: To get more details regarding traveling to Katra, you can take the help of internet (official website of railways and other transport) or travel guide. Train details can be checked on the official site of railway or other online recognized services.

Best time to visit Katra:

October to March

Trip Duration and Summary:

Sunday: Morning train From Mumbai to Katra, overnight journey.

Monday: Reach Katra in the evening. Start the trek from base camp.

Tuesday: Reach temple complex, Darshan etc. and overnight stay at hotel in Katra.

Wednesday: Morning, train from Katra to Mumbai, overnight journey.

Thursday: Reach Mumbai in the evening by 6.

Keep traveling because Every travel teaches you something new, create memories and connect to other cultures and people, which surely helps in your education as well.