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Helicopter service for Vaishno Devi

31 July 2009 35 Comments

Talking about shortcuts to God, here is another one. This time it is to physically reach Him.
This is a guest post by Jeevan who was kind enough to share his experience and knowledge with us on helicopter services to reach Maa Vaishno Devi.

——————–
Gone are those days when the only option to visit the holy shrine was to go by walk. Today we have helicopters doing the job for you. I mean the option of traveling by a chopper was always there but how affordable was it? This time it is simply affordable to common people.

I had been to the Holy Shrine of Maa Vaishno Devi recently. I chose to fly by the helicopter as I didn’t have much time to spare and wanted to return the same day. I explored the official website of Vaishnodevi shrine. There you have the option of booking the Helicopter ride tickets online, in advance.

There are currently two operators – Pavan Hans aviation and Air Deccan. The cost of ride per person for one way is Rs. 1250/- You can also go for on-the-spot booking but there is no guarantee that you would get one. Please reach the helipad at least one hour before the departure time that would be allotted to you once you have the confirmation of ticket.

Photo copyright: http://photos.merinews.com/

The base camp for the shrine is at Katra which is around 70 kms from Jammu. The helipad is at about 2 kms distance from the Katra bus stand. The rickshaw ride would generally cost around Rs. 60/-.
Once at the helipad, you have the usual checkin-procedure which involves measurement of weight and of course waiting. The frequency of rides is pretty good. The journey time is only 4 minutes which means every 8 minutes you have the chopper ready for the next ride. In every trip, the chopper can accomodate 6 persons, five at the back and 1 in the co-pilot’s seat.

I chose to book through the Pavan Hans operator. I was lucky that I was asked to sit at the co-pilot’s seat. It was my first ride on a helicopter. The pilot gets the best view one can get from the aircraft. The front and bottom in the cockpit are made from a totally transparent material and hence you can enjoy the view from all the sides while airborne.

It gets totally windy when you approach the aircraft. You know, filmy style. Once I was inside, the pilot didn’t waste anytime – quickly raised the accelerator or what ever it is and in no time we were at the elevation of around 2000+ ft from the ground. It was a fantastic experience for me. I could get a fine view of the villages nearby Katra and the dense flora on the hill.

Once you are on top, you land on a relatively small helipad called Sanji Chhat. The shrine, also called as the Bhawan, is around 2 kms from here. Another important thing to remember is, a special priority darshan slip will be issued to all those who travel by the helicopter and you get to stand in a separate queue which is usually way shorter than the normal one, plus you get a separate locker facility. You need not register at the base camp where you declare the details of pilgrims (this is mandatory for those who go by walk).

I was lucky for the second time as I could get the darshan in less than 10 minutes time. I don’t think it was off season but surprisingly at that time of the day (around 1 pm), there wasn’t any crowd. And I chose to walk on the return trip. It took me around two and a half hours to cover the distance of 14 kms to the base camp.

I would suggest that if you have do not have much time and plan to cover this place in less than one day, go for the helicopter ride. It is fun and at the same time affordable.

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35 Comments »

  • marina k. villatoro said:

    wow, it looks like ancient religion is getting modern and banking on it!
    however, the price doesn’t seem to be outraugeous. here for a helicopter ride it’s $1200 per hour. although we’re not communing with god or his loving people :)

    # 31 July 2009 at 6:54 PM
  • Shivanand / Fatema Manthalkar said:

    I had been to Vaishno Devi twice, once with my parents, when I was a small kid and later with my wife when a group of visually impaired trekkers had gone on a trip. We started at 10 pm at night and were back to Katra at about 6 am in the morning. We had seen this hale pad, on our way up but neither had we had any knowledge about it, nor could we all afford a chopper. Thank you for the post.

    # 31 July 2009 at 6:58 PM
  • Mee said:

    I love reading the easy style of your posts. V_E_R_Y informative and also chatty:)

    Sure will keep coming back to know more about whats happening at your end.

    Happy travels!

    # 26 August 2009 at 10:58 AM
  • Author said:

    Mee,
    Welcome aboard.

    Thank you and keep coming.

    # 29 August 2009 at 2:24 PM
  • SANDIP said:

    PL. GUIDE ME HOW TO ARRANGE HELICOPTER TICKET FROM KATRA / JAMMU TO MATA VISHNO DEVI.

    # 12 September 2009 at 3:42 PM
  • Nisha said:

    Sandip,
    It is all written here on this post.

    There are two ways to book your ticket.
    First, you can book your ticket in advance thru internet. Go to this website http://maavaishnodevi.org/. you need to register (free) yourself for doing so.
    Another option is to reach Katra and book on the spot but there is no guarantee that you’ll get tickets for the same day.
    The ticket price is Rs 1250/- per person.

    # 13 September 2009 at 4:20 PM
  • Hope Buzz said:

    Is there any weight restriction for overweight people?

    # 14 September 2009 at 12:46 PM
  • Tarun Kumar Basu said:

    I want to make mata maharani ki darshan along with my daughter & wife ( 3 persons) from Katra to Joi Matadi Mandir by Pawan Hans Helicopter service on 17-01-10. We will reach Jammu from Delhi by Rajdhani on 17-01-10 at about 5.30 in the morning. For the same I want to book on line the helicopter tickets. Kindly help me by instructing my mail id given above.

    # 8 December 2009 at 2:02 PM
  • Tarun Kumar Basu said:

    Kindly arrange my on line booking of Pawan Hans Helicopter service for Vaishna Devi Darshan on 17-01-10 morning. I am paying by SBI Debit Card.

    # 8 December 2009 at 2:06 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Hope Buzz,
    I don’t think there would be any problem with overweight people unless they are 200Kgs or more. :)

    # 9 December 2009 at 2:55 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Tarun,
    I am glad that you are traveling to Vaishno devi with your family.
    However, I am not a travel agent or someone who can book your tickets. I am trying to just help fellow travelers with information needed and updating this site from time to time with latest info.

    I guide you to the following site which has step by step instructions to book your tickets.
    http://maavaishnodevi.org/

    Thank you very much to have such faith in me. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

    # 9 December 2009 at 3:04 PM
  • Tarun Kumar Basu said:

    Thank you very much Nisha for my concerned journey not just lackadaisically. Thanks again for your eleemosynary gesture. Your vicarage sponsors my courage. Nevertheless, trying very hard to register online booking the required tickets from Pawan Hans from the site http://www.maavaishnodevi.org as you suggested. Till now success did not kiss my kissmat. God bless you.

    # 9 December 2009 at 4:10 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Tarun,
    Well, many of readers of this blog have booked thru the website I gave you.
    Can I know what problem are you facing? For one, I just saw…. you need to open the said site in IE or Netscape. Are you doing so? You are probably using some other browser.

    Let me know…

    # 9 December 2009 at 5:38 PM
  • Arvind Tripathi said:

    I Want Information about Katra to Bhawan Helicopter Fare One way or Return. Date is 14/1/2011

    # 7 October 2010 at 9:05 PM
  • Nisha said:

    Arvind, :)

    Please check with http://maavaishnodevi.org/ for all your queries for helicopter. They have detailed information on this including current fare.

    Thanks for your visit.

    # 9 October 2010 at 12:45 AM
  • Sudhir said:

    i am going to vaishno devi on 27/10/10 with my family, this is my 5th trip to vaishno devi, i have always enjoyed going there vaishno devi, it gives me kind of inner peace & stisfaction,it has been almost five year i have been going to vaishno devi and you would not believe i have not been facing problem in my life in terms of everything, so i will advise those people who are looking for inner peace, and sttisfaction, they must visit vaishno devi, then u will relize what kind of satisfaction i am talking about, JAI MAT DI

    # 25 October 2010 at 7:11 PM
  • Sudhir said:

    I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HALICOPETER SERVISE

    # 25 October 2010 at 7:16 PM
  • Nisha said:

    Sudhir,
    I hope your trip is as satisfying as it has been all these years. :)

    # 28 October 2010 at 12:03 AM
  • vaishno devi said:

    This is very nice blog. nice place to gather information regarding tour and travel.
    vaishno devi´s last [post] ..Raag Travel and Aviation servicesMy ComLuv Profile

    # 26 November 2010 at 2:50 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Vaishno devi,
    Thank you but pls refrain from advertising on this site.

    # 8 February 2011 at 11:55 PM
  • Ritesh said:

    Thank you all! It was quite informative and hope this would let me enjoy my trip to Vaishno Devi this June thoroughly. I am going to visit the shrine with my parents.
    BIG THANK YOU TO ALL YOU PEOPLE AND MAY THE BLESSING OF GODESS BE WITH YOU.

    # 7 May 2011 at 8:45 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Ritesh:
    All the best for your journey. Do let us know how it went. :)

    # 9 May 2011 at 7:58 PM
  • Sourish said:

    Dear Nisha…

    Thanks for the post… actually I had a query.. do you know if I can pay by SBI debit card via the Gateways of shrine website.. or I have to use credit card… ?

    Sourish
    Sourish´s last [post] ..Osama Killed in PakistanMy ComLuv Profile

    # 30 May 2011 at 1:51 PM
  • subhajit said:

    I tried to book the helicopter tickets from the website.Money has ben debited from my account but i am yet to get any confirmation.It has been 3 days.kindly help me out.

    # 17 September 2011 at 7:25 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Subhajit,
    Can you make a stop/recall payment against that transaction? Have you tried to call them up?
    Nisha´s last [post] ..Malaysian food festivalMy ComLuv Profile

    # 19 September 2011 at 1:43 AM
  • Sourish said:

    @ Subhajit

    There is no need to worry, as the money is debited by Shrine board that reaches ultimately to the helicopter services. The process takes a few day. If there is any transaction failure, shrine board refunds the money in a week. I hope you got the transaction ticket from the Shrine website. If you have that, then I am sure by now you must have received your e ticket from Pawanhans
    Sourish´s last [post] ..Breathless…My ComLuv Profile

    # 19 September 2011 at 5:44 PM
  • subhajit said:

    @Sourish
    I did not get the transaction ticket from the Shrine website.After the payement was done and money was debited,a page (which looked similar to their home page) appeared,but it did not load completely.I waited for 1hr but the same condition prevailed.
    I still havent got neither the confirmation of tickets nor the refund.

    @Nisha
    I tried to cal them,but most of the times they were not reachable and when their phone rang they did not receive the call.

    # 19 September 2011 at 7:26 PM
  • gourav said:

    @marina its 1200 rupees not $1200 ….a big difference ……………refer to first comment

    # 4 October 2011 at 10:38 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Gaurav,
    I think Marina is talking about her place.
    Nisha´s last [post] ..Sky at Kaas plateauMy ComLuv Profile

    # 4 October 2011 at 2:11 PM
  • Pooja said:

    I want to get 11 tickets booked of pawan hans helicopter from katra to sanjhi chat.

    Pls help

    # 13 April 2012 at 8:36 AM
  • Sanat said:

    Today I have booked for the helicopter and cost of ride is One Side Rs.699 and 2 way is Rs.1398 (Pawan Hans Helicopter)

    # 24 August 2012 at 1:25 PM
  • Nisha said:

    Pooja,
    Please note that this site is not a booking site.

    Sanat,
    Thank you very much for the latest update on the rates. It’ll help other readers.
    Please do shares your experience after coming back. :)

    # 24 August 2012 at 8:25 PM
  • Shyam said:

    Excellent post.
    We are planning to visit Ma Vaishnodevi on the 7th of December but the tickets from Katra to Sanchichat for that day are not available anymore.Is there any chance we can still get the tickets? Are there any other alternatives??

    However tickets for the return ticket are available(Katra-Sanchhichat-Katra)but the return time of the helicopter doesnt suit us.. Are the timings flexible, as in can we take the helicopter with the departure time of 11 am instead of the helicopter we are thinking to book
    which has the departure time of 8am.? Is it possible?
    Plz do help
    Thank You

    # 8 November 2012 at 1:15 PM
  • BALABHAI said:

    I want to travel vaishnodevi by helicopter from katra if you provide any facility then contact me.

    NAME: BALABHAI

    Mobile: 8401******

    # 22 January 2013 at 8:25 PM
  • Nisha said:

    Balabhai,
    I welcome you on this site but I am not a booking agent. We just guide you what to do

    Sorry, you’ll have do booking yourself. And I’ve not posted your full telephone no. lest….

    # 22 January 2013 at 8:36 PM

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