Mata Vaishno Devi is an aspect of Goddess Shakti, Siva’s consort. The Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the most famous of Hindu shrines, is located near Katra in Udhampur district, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. This temple is visited by millions of pilgrims each and every year.
Ma Vaishno Devi took birth in the Ratnakar family which had been childless for a very long time. She was named Trikuta. Later she was called Vaishnavi as she descended from the lineage of Sri Mahavishnu. Trikuta performed deep penance to Lord Rama from a very young age. When he manifested in front of her, she insisted that he marry her. But because Rama had already married Sita and had pledged to have only one wife in that incarnation, he promised Trikuta he would marry her when he took his tenth incarnation as Kalki, in the Kaliyuga. Rama then asked her to meditate in a cave in the Trikuta Range of Manik Mountains. By and by, the divine woman, Trikuta, started showing her true Siddhi (divinity) and performed many miracles. Ma Vaishno Devi is known to bestow boons on all her devotees and no one who has an unfulfilled desire ever leaves the temple empty-handed.
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