Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 10: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram paid obeisance to Goddess Vaishno Devi ji inside holy cave shrine at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan, located between Trikuta hills this morning. He remained inside the sanctum sanctorum for eight minutes and offered prayers and ‘aarti’ to the Goddess.
He stayed at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan, located at a height of 5200 feet from the sea level, for about 10 minutes before returning to Sanji Chhat and flying back to Jammu.
Soon after his arrival at Jammu Airport from New Delhi along with Governor NN Vohra, Chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), Mr Chidambaram flew to Sanji Chhat.
K Skandan, Joint Secretary (Kashmir) in Ministry of Home Affairs and Rajeev Kapoor, Additional Director, Intelligence Bureau, who accompanied the Home Minister from New Delhi, also joined him in visit to holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi ji.
He was received at the Airport by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani and Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda. Tara Chand, Mr Khoda and Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal accompanied the Home Minister to the cave shrine.
Mr Chidambaram reached Sanji Chhat at 8.25 am and was received by SMVDSB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Navin Choudhary, Additional CEO Dr Mandeep K Bhandari, DIG Udhampur-Reasi range, Jagjit Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, Sheetal Nanda and SSP Reasi Atul Goel among others.
The Home Minister trekked three kilometers distance from Sanji Chhat to Bhawan. The pilgrimage to the cave shrine continued uninterruptedly even as Mr Chidambaram walked from Sanji Chhat to Bhawan amid tight security arrangements.
Sources said there had been special instructions from the Home Minister that the yatra shouldn’t be disrupted during his visit to the holy cave shrine.
Mr Chidambaram went inside the holy cave shrine around 9.30 am and offered prayers and ‘aarti’ for about eight minutes.
He had a brief halt of about 10 minutes in the premises of Sreedhar complex outside the Governor’s suite. He took some water and started return journey to Sanji Chhat on foot. From Sanji Chhat, he flew back to Jammu Airport and drove to the Chief Minister’s official residence for security review meeting.
Enroute Sanji Chhat to Bhawan and back, SMVDSB CEO Navin Choudhary briefed Mr Chidambaram about arrangements made by the Board for the pilgrims and increase in yatra to the cave shrine every year, which had, for the first time, crossed 10 million mark last year.
DGP Kuldeep Khoda briefed the Home Minister about security arrangements made at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan, 13 kilometers track from Katra to Bhawan and Katra, the base camp of the shrine.
The Home Minister appreciated arrangements made for pilgrims by the Shrine Board and security arrangements by police.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel