VAISHNO DEVI, Haridwar (Cave of)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

For everybody fond of transcendent reality and really fake experience, there has been completed in 1994 (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 393) at the town of Haridwar an artful fake cave or, if you prefer, an artificial cave (erected structure representing cave) at the Disneyesque (LONELY PLANET, India 2005: 413) or, if you want, extraordinary Lal Mata [red mother] temple at Haridwar (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 393; LONELY PLANET, North India 2001: 489), which is a true replika of Vaishno Devi Temple near Katra (note 1), right down to the artificial hill on which the surrogate is situated. Also visible is here a perpetually frozen ice lingam, a true replica of the famous ice formation in the Amarnath Cave in Kashmir (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 393-394; LONELY PLANET, North India 2001: 489). SITUATION: About 2 km north of Har-ki-Pairi (Hari ki Pairi Ghat), the main bathing ghat at Haridwar town, and west (in cases on the left-hand side) of road towards Rishikesh (N30°07': E078°19'). CAVEDESCRIPTION 1997: … the extraordinary Lal Mata temple [note 2], which was completed in 1994, … is a replica of the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu & Kashmir, and it is completely faithful to the original -- right down to the artificial hill on which the replica is sited. Adjacent is a perpetually frozen ice lingam, a replica of that in the Amarnath Cave in Jammu & Kashmir (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 393-394). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2001a: Other interesting temples in the area include … and the Lal Mata Temple, a perfect replica of the Vaishno Devi Temple in Kashmir (LONELY PLANET, India 2001: 386). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2001b: The extraordinary Lal Mata temple at Haridwar is a perfect replica of the Vaishno Devi temple at Jammu, right down to the artificial hill on which the replica is situated. Also here is a perpetually frozen ice lingam, a replica of that in the Amarnath Cave in Kashmir (LONELY PLANET, North India 2001: 489). CAVE POTENTIAL: In a similar location lies the red painted entrance tothe Cave at –>Haridwar (Eliade 1996: 317) and the man-made rock chamber –>Bhima Ghora on the Bhim Goda hill.the Cave at –>Haridwar (Eliade 1996: 317) and the man-made rock chamber –>Bhima Ghora on the Bhim Goda hill.