Katra (Jammu and Kashmir), Aug 24 - The pilgrim's progress is all set to become easier. A proposal to construct a third cave at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir has been mooted and it will be ready in four years. The move, pilgrims and authorities feel, will help ease the rush for 'darshan'.

More than 7.5 million pilgrims visit the Vaishno Devi cave shrine every year and they get very little time for 'darshan' (glimpse of the deity) because of the rush.

The cave shrine of Vaishno Devi is located in the lower part of the Himalayas called Trikuta Hills. It is a rather small and narrow cave, at the end of which the sanctum sanctorum is located. The shrine contains images of three dieties Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasaraswati.

Pilgrims have to enter the shrine through the caves. To tackle the rush, the temple authorities constructed an artificial cave. Now, even this is proving insufficient.

The proposal for a third cave has been met with enthusiasm by the pilgrims.

'Well, if that happens, we will be very happy,' said Vinod Narang, 42, a pilgrim from Amritsar, who has brought his wife and three children with him.

'The rush is suffocating. It's difficult to get in and also to get out. Everybody seems to be pushing one another,' he said.

'But the faith in the deity is so much that even a glimpse is a life-long blessing,' he added.

An official of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board told IANS: 'Now the rush has increased manifold and it has become imperative to construct a third cave to accommodate the increasing rush.