Despite separate arrangements, long waiting hours remain a major issue for both general and special ticket holders
However, Mysuru district minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah defended the crowd management atop the hill. He said the delays experienced by the devotees were due to an exceptionally heavy rush of devotees and extended VIP visits. He also claimed that the authorities are working out measures to ease the waiting time and improve crowd management for the next two Fridays.But the angry devotees are demanding a real-time crowd management system to ensure ordinary devotees, who form the majority, are able to have darshan on a priority basis. “There is stiff resistance to Rs 2,000 ticket from the general public. It is differentiating between devotees. The state govt must infuse professionalism in temple management,” said Sahana Sahu, another local.According to stakeholders, the expansion of the temple infrastructure is challenging due to various factors. Civil works were stopped due to the ongoing legal battle, they said. The temple is in a reserved forest area, and building a new queue complex may raise environmental concerns, they claimed.According to sources, during the first Ashadha, KSRTC operated 50 buses exclusively to ferry passengers between Lalita Mahal Palace parking and the temple, which was reduced to 25 last Friday. “As per the schedule, the first bus starts at 5.30am. The bus movements are coordinated by a three-member team including the city police, temple authority and KSRTC,” explained officials. “This year, those who reach the temple by climbing the steps are given priority compared to those who reach by bus,” added officials. This has also created problems, they said.What happened in 2025?According to the information shared under RTI to city resident Aravinda Sharma, the Shri Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority informed that during the Ashadha 2025, Rs 2,61,80,000 was collected by selling Rs 2,000 tickets. According to Sharma, he was made to wait and fight for the RTI reply. “As per the data, half-a-litre water bottle cost Rs 38. For all items, people paid more money compared to the market prices,” he alleged.The authority secretary, MJ Roopa, was not reachable even after repeated attempts to contact her.Tickets on weekendsOn Ashadha Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the devotees can buy a Rs 2,000 ticket at the Lalitha Mahal Grounds parking ground and board the special AC buses. One devotee is allowed per ticket. They can complete the darshan in a maximum of one-and-a-half hours on Fridays, and would take only half-hour on Saturdays and Sundays, claimed temple authorities. On normal days, Rs 50, Rs 200 and Rs 1,000 tickets are available for devotees. These tickets are not available during Ashadha Fridays or Ashadha weekends, informed authorities.Increasing rush over the yearsAccording to chief priest N Shashishekar Dixit, the temple did not see such a huge crowd till this year. “Since the year 2006, the number of devotees has been on a rise, which reached 1.5 lakh this year,” he explained. According to him, during Ashadha, no sacred events are performed in families, and it is considered holy time to worship Shakti. This year Ashadha concludes on Aug 12.He informed that on Ashadha Fridays, the temple doors will be opened at 3.30am, and devotees can start darshan from 5.30am and 10.30pm. However, the time stretches well into midnight due to the huge flow of the devotees, he said.According to historian PV Nanjaraj Urs, a few years ago, the devotees’ rush to the temple was not like this. “Devotees were allowed till the sanctum sanctorum door,” he said. According to him, the beliefs associated with Ashadha month resulted in the increasing rush. “Earlier, all days-months were considered equally pious,” he said.Eco concernsMeanwhile, concerns were expressed over pollution by those who climb the steps to reach the temple. According to devotees, even though the hill shrine is a no-plastic zone, this year the rule seems to have been thrown to the wind.
