Katra/Jammu | The natural cave at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district was opened for devotees for Makar Sankranti celebrations on Tuesday, officials said.

The doors of the old cave was opened for devotees after special prayers which was among others attended by Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Anshul Garg, they said.

The natural cave within the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine is usually opened during winter months when the rush of devotees is less. Many devotees wait eagerly for the day to have ‘darshan' at the shrine through the natural cave which remains closed for most part of the year owing to safety issues.

“The natural cave is open for the devotees from today, depending on the rush of the devotees. We will allow pilgrims to have ‘darshan' of the old cave only when the number is less than 10,000 so that they do not face any inconvenience,” Garg said.

He said the pilgrimage is progressing smoothly from the new cave which can accommodate a large number of pilgrims without any difficulty.

Officials said more than 1.50 lakh pilgrims have visited the cave shrine since the beginning of the New Year.

“We have almost 10,000 to 15,000 pilgrim footfalls at the cave shrine on a daily basis. The number of pilgrims go up usually on the weekend days,” the CEO of the shrine board said, hoping that the number of pilgrims will go up after the opening of the natural cave.

Last year, 94.83 lakh pilgrims offered prayers at the revered shrine, the second highest number of visitors in a decade.