13 Pakistani-Hindu pilgrims pray at Vaishnodevi

A group of 213 Hindu pilgrims from Pakistan on Sunday paid obeisance at the Vaishnodevi cave shrine in Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The pilgrims offered prayers amid chanting of hymns and bhajans of Mata Vaishnodevi for over half an hour at the shrine in Bhawan.

The group, which consisted of 143 men, 50 women and 20 children, arrived in Katra town yesterday. They undertook the 13-km trek to the shrine on foot.

"It was due to a call from the Mata that we are here to pay obeisance at her darbar. We are very happy that we were able to perform Yatra to this shrine and get blessings from the Mata," pilgrim Jagdish Kumar said.

Another pilgrim Mukesh Kumar said, "We prayed for peace in this sub-continent." The pilgrims, under the banner of Mata Mandal Trust of Sindh province of Pakistan, had crossed the Wagah border on July 1 and will return to their native place on July 25 after undertaking pilgrimage to various shrines in Haridwar, Indore, Raipur, Jalgaon as well as the Golden Temple.