Around 4
kilometers before Katra on Jammu-Katra road, a diversion of
3.5 kilometers leads to Deva Mai, traditionally considered to
be the second Darshan on the Yatra of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi
Ji. In the olden days there used to be a walkway to Deva Mai
from a village called Numai, situated near Katra. With the
development of the road, now the way to Deva Mai goes from the
main Jammu-Katra Road.
Legend
says that while Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji has Her abode in the
Trikuta Mountain since Treta Yug (the second of the
four eras as propounded by the Indian spiritual tradition), it
is in Kaliyug (the present era) that She stayed at Deva Mai in
a small girl form and completed Her Tapasya (spiritual
discipline and ascetic practices) of the human form.
The
priests at Deva Mai narrate a story of one Pandit Shyami Das,
whom they say belonged to the fourth generation of Pandit
Shridhar. Pandit Shyami Das lived separately from the rest of
the family at the place where the temple of Deva Mai is
situated. He used to visit the Holy Cave everyday for Darshans
and Poojan and only upon returning back used to break his fast
and eat something. Once when he returned home in the evening
after the day's work, he got the news that his wife who was
expecting a baby has delivered a girl child. An ancient
tradition of India believes that at the birth or death of a
family member, the whole of family has to observe certain days
of abstinence, whereby they cannot visit any temple or perform
their daily rituals. This period during which all religious
and spiritual activities are prohibited is known as 'Sutak'
and hence Pandit Shyami Das, upon receiving the news of the
bil1h of his daughter, took upon the vow that he will observe
complete fast during the Sutak period and will eat or drink
anything only after Darshans and Poojan at the Holy Cave. In
the same night, the Divine Mother in his dreams said to
him that it is actually She who had taken birth as his
daughter and how can the occasion of Her birth in his family
be considered to be a period of abstinence from any
religious rituals?
Pandit
Shyami Das was overjoyed with the arrival of the Divine Mother
in his family but was however struck with the dilemma of
naming the girl child. On one hand he could not name Her
as any other girl as She if was his mother and on the other
cannot even call Her Mother due to social considerations. Thus
he named the girl child as Mai Deva , which literally means
'The Mother Divine' but in local language also means
'By blessings of the Mother'.