Newly found ‘Shakti’ makes it possible for women to visit faraway temples like Kukke Subrahmanya in Karnataka

“If not for the Shakti, the free travel for women in State Road transport corporation buses scheme, we would not have visited a faraway pilgrim centre like Kukke Subrahmanya,” said one of the 15-member women’s team from Bidar district.

“If not for the Shakti, the free travel for women in State Road transport corporation buses scheme, we would not have visited a faraway pilgrim centre like Kukke Subrahmanya,” said one of the 15-member women’s team from Bidar district.

Having started their journey from Bidar on June 19, Monday, the team that also had three accompanying men, had already visited Sringeri, Udupi and Dharmasthala before its arrival at Kukke Subrahmanya, the richest temple of Karnataka, on Friday, June 23.

Comprising women of all ages, from 18 to 65, the group had just arrived at Subrahmanya and was keeping its luggage in the cloak room. As it was the lunch time, the group soon rushed to the Anna Prasada section even as the temple would reopen at 3.30 p.m.

Feeling embarrassed on being asked whether they were travelling under the Shakti scheme, a woman among a group of 20 from Gadag district travelling from Subrahmanya to Dharmasthala on a KSRTC bus, answered in the affirmative. The group had left its hometown four days ago and had travelled to Sringeri and Horanadu in Chikkamagaluru district before arriving at Kukke Subrahmanya.

Temple Executive Officer Ningaiah told The Hindu that the footfall had almost tripled, to over 30,000 a day, after the launch of the scheme.

Dharmasthala, another popular pilgrim centre in the State having KSRTC connectivity from across the State, has become almost a travel hub for ‘Shakti’ scheme travellers.

Though it was the second week of June when normally the monsoon would have set in, the crowd resembled that of summer holidays, said D. Veerendra Heggade, the Pattadhikari of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple. The number of visitors however is stabilising, he said.