In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir also, the auspicious Navratri festival is being celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety. Since early morning today, devotees have been thronging Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine at Katra from various parts of the country and paying their obeisance to Goddess “Durga,”  Goddess “Maha Kali,” and Goddess “Saraswati” inside the holy cave of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine situated on the Trikuta Hills in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. In Kashmir Division also, devotees are visiting temples on the occasion of the first Navratri today.

In the Kashmir Valley, devotees have been visiting Durga Nath Temple in Srinagar, Mata Ragyna Temple at Tulmulla Ganderbal, and Kheer Bhawani Temple at Tikkar in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district since early this morning to offer their prayers to the Goddess Durga in the form of “Maa Shailputri” on the occasion of the first Navratra today. Devotees are also thronging in large numbers at Shailputri Temple on the banks of the Vitasta River in Baramulla to pay their obeisance to the goddess.

The nine days of Navratri, which began today, are considered the most sacred and auspicious, and they remind the devotees of how Maa Durga defeated and killed the demon Mahishasur and established righteousness in the universe. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Sharad Navratri. In his message, he has prayed for a better future and prosperity of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the well-being of its people.