All seven people on board a helicopter returning from a pilgrimage site were killed Monday when a helicopter crashed in the India-held Kashmir region. The flight had left a popular Hindu shrine in the mountainous region, media reported, crashing after taking off from the town of Katra, near the Vaishnodevi Shrine in the Jammu part of the northern region which attracts millions of pilgrims every year.
The Vaishnodevi cave shrine is about 40 miles north-east of the city of Jammu and is devoted to an incarnation of the three forms of Shakti, the goddess of power. These days it is not uncommon for pilgrims to take private helicopters to and from Katra in the Trikuta mountains instead of tackling the onerous journey on foot or by road.
The Holy Cave of the Mother is situated at an altitude of 5,200 ft. The Yatris must undertake a trek of nearly 12km from the base camp at Katra. At the culmination of their pilgrimage, the Yatris are blessed with the Darshans of the Mother Goddess inside the Sanctum Sanctorum – the Holy Cave. These Darshans are in the shape of three natural rock formations called the Pindies. There are no statues or idols inside the cave.
On site Shilpa Thakur reports that the Himalayan Heli Service copter crashed at the new bus stand in Katra where all on board died on the spot including the female pilot Sumita Vijyan from Haidrabad. The devotees were, Arjun Singh(25) and wife Vandana Singh (22); Rajeshwer Singh and wife Vandana Singh (22); Mahesh War (19); Sachin (32); Ashima (6) daughter of Sachin, all of Jammu.
