Bawe wali mata — Attraction in Jammu and Kashmir

live in Delhi, but whenever I come to Jammu, I feel like visiting Bawe Mata. Today, I went there again with my parents and 10-year-old daughter, but my experience was not good. There's no proper parking arrangement, and after a lot of hassle, I found parking 2 km away from the temple. Buses and vehicles are parked on the road as if no one else needs to pass through. The importance of Bawe Mata is significant, but people don't seem to value it. The situation for the elderly is especially dire. The line stretched from outside the shop to the entire garden area, almost reaching the temple premises. The management's boys were only letting VIPs and acquaintances enter while disregarding the common public. They were chatting and making jokes, showing no reverence. It was impossible for elderly parents to stand in line for 3-4 hours. There were no seating arrangements or facilities for waiting. Quick entry was only for VIPs. After waiting in line for 2 hours, we finally got a chance to enter the temple, but it felt like a crowded market. We couldn't properly focus on the darshan. My daughter and mother were struggling in the crowd. Meeting the priests inside, at least 50 people were having darshan together, and due to the crowd, we couldn't focus properly. My 10-year-old daughter and mother were almost crushed in the crowd. I want to ask the management if the temple is only for people from Jammu or if people come from far away for darshan too. And if they can't have darshan, what's the point? If there's any casualty or injury in the crowd, who will be responsible? There was no chance of standing in line for prasad; the line was so long it didn't move even by evening. The temple is beautiful, and there's spirituality, but if people leave with a bad mood, what's the use? The monkeys there have a different reign. They make people unhappy. Those who have upper-hand influence are treated differently. They push people aside after overcrowding. If they manage the crowd properly and let 4-5 people enter in an organized manner, everyone will get a chance for darshan.

Then we went to the aquarium. They asked for Rs. 30 per person for a ticket and an additional Rs. 20 per person for clicking photos with a mobile. I don't understand why they charged extra for clicking photos when everyone has their own mobile. When I questioned, they started arguing.

Overall, it was a very bad experience due to poor management....

Beautiful serene temple. It is a short (5-7mins) mildly uphill walk to the temple from the point where a car/auto/bus will drop you. The walk up is lined with shops on both sides selling flowers sweets etc that you can purchase as offerings (but you don't necessarily have to for the darshan.) Right as you are about to reach the temple people from the shops will start calling out to you to leave your shoes with them and that you can't take them forward, DONOT listen to them.

Once you're in the temple gardens, right before you enter the temple complex there is a place to keep your shoes. You will have to leave behind your mobile phones as well at the same place as you leave your shoes.

There are a lot of monkeys around so best to be careful of your belongings as they tend to snatch things from your hands, eye glasses, caps/ hats. (this is just general precaution and not specific to this temple, and monkeys are there at most temple...

Religious place but phone are not allowed inside due to...