Woman arrested with pistol at J&K’s Mata Vaishno Devi temple

A woman pilgrim was arrested after a pistol was recovered from her possession at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, said officials on Tuesday.

The officials said that Jyoti Gupta, claiming to be a retired police constable, belonging to Delhi was arrested after a pistol and six rounds of ammunition were recovered from her at a checking point on the night between March 14 and 15.

“The licence of the weapon had expired a few years back. An investigation has been started in the incident," the officials said.

J&K’s most revered Hindu shrine, the Mata Vaishno Devi temple is located atop the Trikuta Hills in Reasi district at an altitude of 1500 metres.

The cave temple is visited each year by around one crore devotees. The offerings made by the devotees in terms of cash and precious metals run into multiples of crores of rupees each year.

The temple is managed by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), which is headed by J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha.

The Vaishno Devi temple was in existence by 1846 when Maharaja Gulab Singh established the Dharmarth Trust to manage several temples in his territory.

Vaishno Devi temple was part of this trust. The trust remained in the hands of Gulab Singh's descendants after Independence and his descendant Karan Singh was responsible for administering the temple as the hereditary trustee until 1986.

The then J&K Governor Jagmohan passed legislation transferring the control of the Vaishno Devi temple from the Dharmarth Trust and the hereditary priests to a separate Shrine Board.

Vaishno Devi is identified with the power of Vishnu as well as the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. Many religious historians identify Vaishno Devi with the great Goddess Mahadevi and say Vaishno Devi contains all powers and is associated with the entire creation as Mahadevi.

Pilgrims also identify Vaishno Devi with Durga (a form of Lakshmi), many devotees also name the deity as Seranwali, ‘the lion rider’.

Vaishno Devi is said to be the future bliss of Kalki, who will be born as Rama's wife of Kalki. The temple is sacred to both Hindus and Sikhs. Many prominent saints such as Swami Vivekananda have visited the temple.