Mata Lal Devi Temple, Amritsar

01Lal Devi

Lal Devi was a woman of Amritsar remembered for her devotion to the Devi, who wore red and whom her followers held to be blessed by Vaishno Mata. Families who could not make the climb to Trikuta came to her, and after her death in the 1980s the temple grew around her samadhi. It is built as a series of narrow caves and tunnels, some to be crawled through and some walked in water, ending in the shrine of the Devi, so that the pilgrim passes through something of the Vaishno Devi yatra. Women who wish for a child come to the temple in particular.

02A day in Amritsar

Amritsar’s pilgrims usually take in the Harmandir Sahib, the Durgiana temple and the Ram Tirath, and Mata Lal Devi has become part of that round. The temple is in Rani ka Bagh, in the city’s west. Navratri is the great season; on Ashtami the queue for the caves runs out into the street. Many families come straight on from the Durgiana temple, a short drive away, and the Devi’s red chunri is the usual offering.