The 9 days fest in India has begun summoned as “Navaratri” and different cities celebrate it in different ways. Talking about Nashik, it embraces all the cultures and festivities in its own style. This year the officials had proposed to the MSRTC department to run special buses for the pilgrims visiting Saptashrungi temple.
Saptashrungi temple is located on the Saptashrungi Gadh, 60 km from Nashik city and is the most visited place during Navarata. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has planned to run 300 additional buses from various parts of the district. An official of the MSRTC department announced, “Buses will run from all major depots in the district to the base of the temple on Saptashrungi hill, where private transport is banned.”
Though the route to the Saptashrungi temple has many dangerous turns and a rough stretch with a deep valley on one side, it is considered as the busiest route during this grand festival. This is the only route for vehicles and it being a two-lane road, private traffic is banned on this road.
Some might benefit from the fact that people travelling by their personal vehicles will have to leave them at Nanduri and take the MSRTC bus to Saptashrungi temple. An official also added, “Considering the crowd, we have arranged 70 buses separately that will shuttle between the base and the temple. This is a stand-by arrangement to power the emergency services in case of a disaster. The cranes are kept ready to assist in case of accidents of vehicles.”
Other arrangement like provisions for doctors, ambulances, health and many more safety measures have been undertaken by the temple trust. The festival will go on for 9 days, starting from Saturday and will end on 14th October with yet another massive ending, Dusshera.
