Kulbir Gupta
After the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Shri Mata Sukrala Devi Ji Shrine and Shri Mata Bala Sundari Shrine Bill in the last session of the State legislature any attempt to invoke criticism like poor facilities for devotees will be misplaced. Instead, time has come to implement the Act in totality and pave the way for better days ahead.
The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill is self-explanatory and reflects the feelings of millions of ordinary citizens: “Pilgrims in thousand numbers visit the Shrines to pay their obeisance on every Tuesday and Sunday and particularly during Navrataras with the result the Yatra becomes unmanageable due to the reason that the basic infrastructure has not been developed there for providing facilities to the Yatries. Therefore, lot of inconvenience is faced by the pilgrims. The pilgrimage to the Shrine is increasing every year and offerings of the Shrine are not being properly utilized… In view of the fast growing popularity of the Shrines and increase in the number of pilgrims in thousands, a need has been felt to constitute a Statutory Authority on the pattern of the Board Shri Shiv Khori Shrine for better management, administration and governance of Shri Mata Sukrala Devi Shrine and Mata Bala Sundari and their endowments including the land and structures attached appurtenant to the Shrines.”
For years the people of Billawar have been seeking the constitution of a shrine board for the management of Mata Sukrala Devi temple. She is virtually the presiding deity of Billawar and its vicinity at a height of about 3500 feet almost 9 kilometres from the main town. Having manifested herself in the form of a stone slab the four-armed Goddess with a sword in one of Her hands rides a brass lion with a silver-mounted head. Behind Her is an image of Mahishasur Murdini triumphantly standing on the body of Mahishasur. The devotees have to climb stairs to reach the majestic temple said to have been built by an exiled prince of Chamba (now in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh).
The statutory shrine board will be headed by the divisional commissioner of Jammu; it will include at least three distinguished citizens, including one woman who has worked for the advancement of her ilk, and some of the key officials of the province and Kathua district who are responsible for tourism promotion and maintenance of administrative efficiency and discipline. Presently a committee headed by a tehsildar manages the affairs. It will make way for a more powerful dispensation.
No doubt that the pilgrimage tourism holds tremendous potential for our State. Our planners and administrators have been dreaming and striving to achieve the diversion of millions of followers of the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi to other sacred and scenic places on both sides of the Jawahar Tunnel. Their efforts have somewhat succeeded so far as the picturesque Patni Top is concerned which can be said to be the first beneficiary of the pilgrimage tourism potential harnessed with the blessings of the deity on top of the Trikuta Hills.
It will be perfectly in order if the officials consider facilitating the journey of devotees from Katra to the temple of Mata Sukrala Devi in Billawar tehsil of Kathua district in the opposite direction.
There is a shorter road route from Katra to Billawar via Jandrah. One does not have to come back to Jammu and then proceed southward for Billawar. The Jandrah passage saves at least two to three hours. It also exposes a visitor to the little-publicised idyllic environment of the Jammu region. There is need to educate the outsiders about it. In my small way I have made an effort to disseminate information about Mata Sukrala Devi and other shrines around it among thousands of pilgrims who gathered in Katra last Sunday.
Before I proceed further to dwell on the importance of Mata Sukrala Devi I would like to point out that there are other spots too which are crying for due attention. The Aap Shambhu (self-manifested) Mahabilvakeshwar Shiv Temple in Billawar is just 9 Kms short of Mata Sukrala Devi. There is a boulder carrying the engraved figure of Hanuman believed to be centuries’ old right at the entrance of Billawar. The stone has survived the vagaries of the weather. The Shri Mata Bala Sundri shrine will now be directly looked after like the Mata Sukrala temple. Gradually it should be possible to bring the other religious places too under the Shrine Board.
A bus service from Katra to Mata Sukrala Devi shrine via Jandrah should be started on a priority basis to link the two places. Once the connectivity is established the other basic facilities like providing accommodation, electricity and drinking water should follow as a natural corollary. As it is thousands pay obeisance to Mata Sukrala Devi every year. During the Navratras there is heavy rush. An estimated three lakh people visit the shrine every year. Their number is bound to shoot up with a better focus and improvement upon the existing amenities.
The task of the shrine board is cut out so far as the Mata Sukrala Devi shrine is concerned. As it sets out to achieve its objective it should slowly expand its scope of activities much like the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has done. Billawar itself has a lot of history woven around it. Bhaddu, virtually next door, is the birth place of the Dogri language now part of the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. I have already mentioned a few other religious spots awaiting immediate attention. Basohli, not far away, is itching to become a top-class centre of pashmina development — a rare activity in the Jammu region, unlike Ladakh which is the home of original pashmina fibre and Kashmir where they hone that fibre into superfine embroidered globally sought pashmina shawls. A whole territory of Jammu thus is waiting to be fully explored. As a result the positive impact on the local economy as the number of devotees of Mata Sukrala Devi grows is only to be expected. The transformation of Katra from a sleepy town not very long ago into a major hub of tourist and pilgrim activity at present is a case in point.
The Government and political leaders of all hues deserve congratulations for having paved the way for a shrine board for Mata Sukrala Devi Shrine. The ordinary citizens of Billawar who have been waiting for such an arrangement for long will not be found wanting in lending a helping hand.
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