Katra or Vaishno Devi is a city within the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India, situated in the foothills of the Trikuta Mountains, where the shrine of Vaishno Devi is located. Katra is located 24 km (15 mi) from the town of Reasi, 42 km (26 mi) from the city of Jammu and around 685 km (426 mi) north of the national capital New Delhi and is the base camp for Mata Vaishno Devi.
Katra
Vaishno Devi | |
---|---|
Temple City | |
![]() ![]() Katra Location in Jammu and Kashmir, India Show map of Jammu and Kashmir![]() ![]() Katra Katra (India) Show map of India | |
Coordinates: 32°59′22″N 74°56′0″E | |
Country | ![]() |
Union Territory | ![]() |
District | Reasi |
Elevation | 875 m (2,871 ft) |
Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 9,008 |
Language | |
• Official | Dogri, Hindi.[2][3] |
• Other | Kashmiri |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
Vehicle registration | JK |
Literacy | 70% |
Katra is located at 32.98°N 74.95°E / 32.98; 74.95.[4] It has an average elevation of 875 metres (2,474 feet). The Banganga River passes through the village.
There have also been reports of possible oil reserves in the area[5]
Climate data for Katra (1981–2010, extremes 1980–2012) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 25.8 (78.4) |
28.9 (84.0) |
33.1 (91.6) |
39.3 (102.7) |
43.7 (110.7) |
46.2 (115.2) |
39.7 (103.5) |
36.3 (97.3) |
33.4 (92.1) |
33.3 (91.9) |
29.7 (85.5) |
27.6 (81.7) |
46.2 (115.2) |
Mean maximum °C (°F) | 21.8 (71.2) |
24.3 (75.7) |
29.1 (84.4) |
35.2 (95.4) |
39.2 (102.6) |
40.2 (104.4) |
35.8 (96.4) |
33.1 (91.6) |
32.1 (89.8) |
30.9 (87.6) |
27.3 (81.1) |
23.2 (73.8) |
40.8 (105.4) |
Average high °C (°F) | 17.1 (62.8) |
19.2 (66.6) |
23.7 (74.7) |
29.6 (85.3) |
34.0 (93.2) |
35.2 (95.4) |
31.2 (88.2) |
29.9 (85.8) |
29.8 (85.6) |
28.0 (82.4) |
23.9 (75.0) |
19.5 (67.1) |
26.7 (80.1) |
Average low °C (°F) | 6.2 (43.2) |
8.1 (46.6) |
12.0 (53.6) |
16.7 (62.1) |
20.5 (68.9) |
22.2 (72.0) |
21.7 (71.1) |
21.3 (70.3) |
19.3 (66.7) |
15.0 (59.0) |
11.0 (51.8) |
7.8 (46.0) |
15.1 (59.2) |
Mean minimum °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) |
4.0 (39.2) |
7.5 (45.5) |
11.1 (52.0) |
14.6 (58.3) |
16.9 (62.4) |
18.2 (64.8) |
18.2 (64.8) |
15.4 (59.7) |
11.9 (53.4) |
7.7 (45.9) |
4.7 (40.5) |
2.3 (36.1) |
Record low °C (°F) | 0.3 (32.5) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
3.0 (37.4) |
5.5 (41.9) |
10.0 (50.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
10.8 (51.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
9.0 (48.2) |
4.6 (40.3) |
1.1 (34.0) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 110.3 (4.34) |
131.2 (5.17) |
141.7 (5.58) |
75.0 (2.95) |
61.3 (2.41) |
137.2 (5.40) |
589.6 (23.21) |
635.1 (25.00) |
199.6 (7.86) |
35.2 (1.39) |
23.4 (0.92) |
58.7 (2.31) |
2,198.3 (86.55) |
Average rainy days | 4.9 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 7.2 | 17.1 | 17.3 | 8.1 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 82.7 |
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 69 | 61 | 52 | 40 | 35 | 45 | 75 | 83 | 75 | 63 | 64 | 67 | 61 |
Source: India Meteorological Department[6][7] |
Religion in Katra (2011)[8]
As of 2011 Indian Census, Katra had a total population of 9,008, of which 5,106 were males and 3,902 were females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 1,012. The total number of literates in Katra was 6,841, which constituted 75.9% of the population with male literacy of 79.4% and female literacy of 71.4%. The effective literacy rate of the 7+ population of Katra was 85.6%, of which the male literacy rate was 89.2% and the female literacy rate was 80.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 1,925 and 9 respectively. Katra had 1594 households in 2011.[1]
As per the 2011 census, the majority, 78.2% of the population spoke Dogri, followed by 10.6% Hindi, 2.5% Punjabi, 2.2% Assamese, and 1.4% Kashmiri speakers.[9]
![]() | This section does not cite any sources. (June 2019) |
Katra serves as the base camp for pilgrims who visit Vaishno Devi. It has a thriving tourism industry that offers plenty of hotels, guest houses, restaurants, dhabas, fast-food joints that fit all kinds of budgets. Free accommodation is provided by some registered trusts in the form of "Sarais" for the poor. The number of pilgrims who visit the shrine every year has increased from 1.4 million in 1986 to 8.2 million in 2009. Over the years, a lot has changed, but main attractions include the "bazaar" (market) for buying souvenirs, dryfruits, woolen garments, hosiery, leather jackets, etc. To reach Vaishno Devi, the pilgrims have to register at Katra before starting the trek. By registering, the pilgrims get accident insurance up to 100,000 INR while on the trek of 14 km. There is another trek of 2.5 km from Vaishno Devi temple for Baba Bhaironnath. Electric Vehicles and helicopter services are available for pilgrims. A new ropeway system has just been inaugurated from the Vaishno Devi Bhawan to the Bhairon Baba Mandir, reducing the journey to time to just 3 minutes. The ropeway can carry 800 people every hour.
Katra is well-connected by roads with other places in Jammu and Kashmir and India. The NH 144 passes through Katra. Presently, it takes around 12 hours to travel from New Delhi to Katra. The planned Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway will shorten the duration to 7 hours.[10]
The Jammu–Baramulla line connects the Katra Railway Station of Northern Railways to the rest of the Indian railways' network. It was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi on 4 July 2014.[11]
The nearest airport to Katra is Jammu Airport located at a distance of 50 kilometres. There are numerous helipads in and around Katra which has services to the Vaishno Devi Temple.
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