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How
to reach
Adhkunwari
 Around
500 mtrs. from Inderprastha and located at an altitude of
4800 feet is Adkuwari. One can get a glimpse of the fluttering
flag and temple spires and can hear continuous announcements
from the announcement booth much before actually reaching
there. Adkuwari is the half way mark on the track as it is
situated at a distance of nearly 6 kms. from Katra. The Holy
Cave is now nearly 6 km. away. Adkuwari is one of the most
important Darshans on the visit, second only to the main Darshans
at the Holy Cave.
The term Adkuwari is believed to have come from Adi kumari,
which means “The Eternal Virgin”. According to
the legend, when Vaishnavi, in the form of a small girl, disappeared
from the Bhandaara organized by Pandit Shridhar, she halted
at Banganga and Charan Paduka. From there she reached Adkuwari,
where, in a small womb shaped cave she meditated and observed
spiritual discipline (Tapasya) for nine long months. The exact
spot where she is believed to have meditated is located at
the right hand side inside the cave and is shaped like a womb.
Since Vaishnavi had observed spiritual discipline in a womb
shaped cave for a period of nine months, this cave has become
popular by the name of Garbh Joon, which has come from the
term Garbh Yoni meaning the Womb. It is generally believed
that by merely passing through this cave, a devotee’s
sins are cleansed and his soul becomes pious again.
When during her meditation She realized that Bhairon Nath
had approached the cave in Her search, She created an exit
at the other end with Her trident and proceeded towards the
Holy Cave.
Since the cave is very narrow, only one person can pass through
it at a time. While the entrance is comfortably broad, as
one enters further one starts wondering whether it would be
possible for him to pass through it or not. A prompt or a
nudge from the person waiting behind him, a remembrance of
Mata in the hearts and on the lips, and crawl by crawl, one
is out of the cave, fully recharged with an energy that definitely
belongs to the other world.
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Due to the narrowness of the cave, it takes hours together
for a yatri’s turn to come to pass through this cave.
Not more than 4000 pilgrims can pass through this cave in
24 hours. Thus pilgrims reaching Adkuwari who wish to pass
through the cave are issued a group number. Pilgrims are required
to take their group numbers and wait outside the queue complex
till their group number is announced or displayed. Each group
consists of 50 pilgrims. Once the first group of 50 is cleared,
the next group number is announced and so on. Upon announcement
of the group number, one has to proceed to the queue complex
and wait in queue for his turn to enter the cave. There is
also a small temple just outside the exit route of the Holy
Cave and after passing through the cave one gets the Darshans
at this temple before proceeding on the onwards journey. Darshans
at Adkuwari include Darshans of the three Supreme Energies
in an idol form, those of Nav Durga and Bhakt Hanuman.
However, yatries who wish to proceed to Bhawan directly need
not obtain any group number here. Their main yatri slip is
sufficient for the purpose.
To check the facilities available at Adhkuwari.
Click Here
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