Shiv Khori

Getting there

• By road

  Light vehicles go up to Ransoo, the base camp of the pilgrimage. From Jammu the shrine lies 140 km to the north, with Udhampur 120 km away and Katra 80 km.

On the way

• From Ransoo, pilgrims walk about 3 km on a track built by the Shiv Khori Shrine Board.
• A 2.12 km ropeway from Darshan Deori is planned, but its tender was cancelled in early 2025 because of a court case and will be reissued.
• The passage to the sanctum is low, so visitors must stoop, crawl or move sideways.

Why devotees come here

Shiv Khori is a famous cave shrine of Hindus devoted to Shiva. It sits in Sangar village, Pouni, near Reasi town in Jammu and Kashmir. Inside the cave, a naturally created image of Shiva about 4 metres high is visible.

Shiv Khori is a cave shrine of Hindus devoted to Shiva. About 70 per cent of pilgrims come from other states of India, and the number of visitors passed 300,000 in 2005. The cave sits between hillocks, and the pilgrimage starts from Ransoo, the base camp.

The shrine is a natural cave about 200 metres long, one metre wide and two to three metres high. Its first entrance is wide enough to accommodate 300 devotees at a time. Inside, a naturally created image of Shiva about 4 metres high is visible.

Pilgrim numbers grew sharply after the Shiv Khori Shrine Board was set up in December 2003. The Board is chaired by the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, and it built the walking track from Ransoo.

Festivals

• February or the first week of MarchMaha Shivratri mela

  A three-day mela. Jhankhis start from the Tourist Reception Centre in Ransoo and end at Darshani Deodi, with cultural programmes, devotional songs, dances and dangal.

Tips for your visit

• Religious organisations arrange langars for devotees at Ransoo and nearby areas during the mela.
• The Chief Medical Officer was asked to station a doctor permanently at the Bhawan, with an ambulance and a fully equipped medical team for the festival.

Questions people ask