Vaishno Devi is in the form of a radiant Tejas Shakti created from the energies of Kali (Parvati), Lakshmi and Saraswati. When Shakti asked the goddess her purpose, she said that she would maintain the dharma on earth. She was then born to a devotee Pandit Ratnakar and his wife Samriddhi, who lived in South India. They named her Trikuta, because of her birth from the lineage of Lord Vishnu, she was also called Vaishnavi. Vaishnavi went to the jungles for austerity in her youth, in order to attain knowledge in her childhood.
When Lord Vishnu's incarnate Rama came and met Vaishnavi during his 14 years of exile, he recognized her and requested him to merge himself with her. But Rama promised to meet her again after the exile was over and if he recognized her at that time, he would fulfill her wish. This time he was disguised as an old man and Vaishnavi did not recognize him. Rama told Vaishnavi that he would have to wait for his Kali-yuga incarnation, Kalki. Rama asked him to do penance at the base of Trikuta hills. People soon started coming to the Trikuta mountain ranges to seek blessings and to remove sorrows.
  
Mahayogi Guru Gorakh Nath had witnessed the incident between Lord Rama and Vaishnavi. He became curious to see whether Vaishnavi succeeded in attaining spirituality or not. He sent his best disciple Bhairav ​​Nath to search for truth. Bhairav ​​Nath secretly began to monitor Vaishnavi and noticed that despite being a Sadhvi, she always carried a bow and arrow with her, and was always surrounded by langurs (monkeys) and a fierce lion.
He was fascinated by her extraordinary beauty. He started instigating Vaishnavi to marry him. Bhairav ​​laid his bed on the mountains but did not give up. Devi was forced to kill him. At the time of his death, he sought forgiveness from the goddess. Mother granted him a boon that every devotee would have to go to Bhairon's temple after seeing the mother, only then the journey would be complete. Vaishnavi then renounced her human form and engrossed herself in austerity forever in the form of a three-pointed rock.
 

Service and worship
Goddess Aarti is performed before sunrise and after sunset. Darshan is suspended during the aarti. Devotees can witness this aarti in person- it can be booked online for devotees wishing to have darshan.

Navratri is celebrated for nine days in Katra and the holy cave.

Best time to visit: May to July

Interesting fact
In Kurukshetra, Arjuna seeks the goddess's blessings, addressing her as 'Jambukatam Chityayashu Nityam Sannihatayala', which means 'You who have always lived in the temple on the slopes of the mountain in Jambu (present-day Jammu)'.

Nearby Places:
Spots in the campus of Katra include Batote, Jhajjar Kotli (only 15 kms away from Katra), Kud and Patni Top.