Every day, hundreds of buses converge on Dharmasthala, Karnataka’s most visited pilgrim centre, carrying the devout from all over the state.
Dozens of buses ply between Bengaluru and Dharmasthala, an ancient shrine that attracts thousands of Bengalureans. The town is in no position to host them: a water crisis has gripped it.
Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari who administers the centre, sent out a message on May 17, asking devotees to postpone their trips in view of the crisis.
“The water crisis is worsening by the day as the flow in the Netravathi river has reduced drastically. Devotees throng the temple, and that calls for a lot of water. Hence, I request devotees to postpone their visit by a few days and cooperate,” Veerendra Heggade said in a statement.
When Metrolife called up the temple authorities, they said the inflow of devotees had not come down, but the number of those staying overnight had gone down.
“We can’t close the temple doors or stop devotees from coming. The temple is most crowded on Sundays and Mondays,” an official says. The situation is not as bad as expected, and devotees who stay back will not be so inconvenienced.
“But we want to be on the safe side. We don’t want devotees to struggle after coming here,” he adds.
Though Dharmasthala saw light showers over the weekend, it has not helped the water situation, he told Metrolife.
No change
The temple welcomes about 10,000 pilgrims every day, and a majority come by bus. KSRTC and private bus operators such as SRS Travels, Kukkeshree Travels, Nagashree Travels, and Sugama Tourists continue to ferry passengers as usual. When Metrolife called, they said they had not seen any cancellation of tickets or fall in the number of passengers to Dharmasthala.
Dharmasthala
- About 300 km from Bengaluru
- Takes about six hours by road
- Nearest airport is Mangaluru (75 km)
- Bus fare is between Rs 500 and Rs 700