Katra: 50 kms from Jammu. This small town serves as the base camp for visiting the famous shrine of Vaishnodeviji in the Trikuta Hills. The shrine is approachable on foot along a 12 kms. Long well laid foot-path. Every year, nearly 4 million pilgrims pass through Katra on their way to Vaishnodeviji. Accomodation is available in Tourist Bungalows, Yatrika and a number of private hotels, beside 

pilgrims''sarais'.

The holy cave shrine of Vaishno-Devi is situated in a beautiful recess of the Trikuta Mountains forming a part of the lower Himalayas as in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. There are images of three deities viz, the Mahakali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati. 

The journey to the Holy Shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji starts with the Call of Mata. It is not only a belief but also a strong experience of one and all that the Divine Mother sends a call to her children. And once a person receives it, wherever he is, is bound to visit the Mother to receive Her unbounded love and blessings. A popular slogan in the local folklore beautifully expresses it- Maan Aap Bulandi - which means that The Mother Herself Calls! It is also a matter of experience by almost all those who visit the Holy Shrine that upon the Call of Mata, a person needs to just take one step and leave the rest to Her and his journey gets completed with Her divine blessings. Simultaneously, it is also believed that unless there is a call or Bulawa no one can visit the Shrine or have Her blessings, howsoever high or mighty one may be.