Jammu:
Surpassing all previous records, the authorities at the holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi
registered over 82.05 lakh faithfuls who visited the cave-shrine located in Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir in 2009.
"The pilgrimage to Mata Vaishnodevi has set a new milestone. A total of record number of 82.05 lakh pilgrims has visited the cave shrine in 2009. It is highest number of the pilgrims visiting this shrine," Additional Chief Executive Officer (ACEO), Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board (SMVSB), Dr Mandeep K Bandari said on Friday.
82,05,917 pilgrims had 'darshan' at the cave shrine in 2009. It is 14 lakh more than that of 2008 and 8 lakh more than the total pilgrims' arrival records of 2007 that amounted to 74.17 lakh.
In 2008, there was fall in the pilgrim flow to cave shrine due to a 2-month long Amarnath land row agitation in Jammu and Kashmir and only a total of 67.5 lakh pilgrimage visited cave shrine.
"Now we will move towards next target of 1 crore pilgrim arrivals. We hope to make it by next few years", he said.
In 2006, the yatra reached to 69.5 lakh mark and 67.83 lakh pilgrims visited cave shrine in 2005.