Over 45,000 devotees pay obeisance at Vaishno Devi shrine on New Year's day

Jammu, Jan 1 (PTI) The Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district witnessed a huge rush of devotees, with more than 45,000 pilgrims paying obeisance at the holy cave on New Year’s day.

Owing to the massive crowd, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board announced the temporary suspension of registration for the yatra late on Wednesday night. The registration process remained closed till Thursday morning.

"There was a heavy rush of devotees during the new year period. As many as 45,975 pilgrims paid their obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine till tonight," a senior board official told PTI.

Serpentine queues were witnessed on the Trikuta hills in Katra despite severe cold as devotees from different parts of the country chanted "Jai Mata Di" and wished each other well for the new year.

Rohit Santoshi, a devotee from Madhya Pradesh, said, "My only wish was to seek the blessings of the goddess on New Year’s day. It will bring us peace, happiness, progress and prosperity in our lives throughout the year." PTI AB NSD NSD