Shimla: Bus service for pilgrims visiting Chintpurni, Jawalamukhi temples

Shimla : The Himachal Road Transport Corporation will start a religious tourism circuit bus service for pilgrims visiting Chintpurni and Jawalamukhi temples in Himachal’s Una and Kangra districts from October 21, officials said on Thursday.

The ‘Pratham Darshan Seva’ bus service from Chintpurni temple to Khatushyam temple and Naina Devi temple to Baba Balaknath temple is in the pipeline, said Rohan Chand Thakur, the Managing Director of HRTC. We are working on two strategies to start new routes and publicise old existing routes like Shimla to Amritsar, Shimla to Chintpurni and Shimla to Hatkoti temple, he said.

Over 1.5 crore people visit Chintpurni and Jawalamukhi temple every year and the idea is to provide comfortable and affordable travel.

The bus service would be available on all seven days during the Navratri festival and afterwards on the weekends, Thakur told PTI on Thursday. The bus service would start from Dharamshala at 8 am, reach Chintpurni temple at 10.30 am, Jawalamukhi temple at 2 pm and back to Dharamshala at 5.30 pm. The ticket booking began on Thursday. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the portfolio of the transport department, had earlier said that a religious circuit would be developed in the state and a bus service is also proposed for Chintpurni-Khatushyam, Baba Balaknath-Amritsar and Baba Balaknath (Deyotsiddh)-Delhi and some other routes. Himachal is home to a large number of ancient temples, five shakti peethas including Chintpurni, Barjeshwai Mata, Chamunda Devi, Naina Devi and Jawalamukhi and lakhs of devotees visit these religious places around the year.