Lord Shiva seems to have answered the prayers of thousands of Ranchi devotees eager to visit Baidyanath Dham. They have earned wings to fly straight to Deoghar in flat 45 minutes, bypassing the huge rush on road and tracks in the holy month of Shravan.

The civil aviation and tourism departments have teamed up with the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) to start a flight from the state capital to the temple city of Deoghar and back during the month-long Sharvan festivities.

Baba Baidyanth Darshanam, as the special service has been christened will be launched on Thursday and will include a premium darshan of Lord Shiva at the temple without the ordeal of standing in the never-ending queues.

The flights will be available from July 21 to August 22. Caravan, a nine-seater plane, will take the pilgrims to Deoghar and back thrice a day. The entire trip — the two-way air journey, darshan and refreshments — will come for Rs 14,999 per head.

Shravan Mela will start from July 22.

“The special flight service will be launched by governor’s adviser K. Vijay Kumar tomorrow (Thursday) after which bookings will open. We will rope in local travel agents to sell tickets,” tourism principal secretary Sajal Chakravorty told The Telegraph.

The first flight will leave early in the morning. The passengers, on reaching Deoghar, will be received by tourism department officials. After light refreshments and rest in department’s guest houses, they will be escorted to the temple for prayers and Prasad before returning the same day. The second flight will take off around midday followed by a third one in late noon.

“We are sure that this experiment will be a huge hit as there are many who want to go to Deoghar but cannot do so because of lack of time and the huge rush. The air link will not only reduce the travel time, as it will take merely 45 minutes to reach Deoghar, but will also ensure a special visit to the temple, which is a bonus,” said Baba Baidyanth Darshanam’s co-ordinator and FJCCI member Poonam Anand.

The authorities are hoping to draw tourists and devotees from outside the state too. “This will lend a boost to religious tourism as devotees from across the country want to visit Baidyanath Dham in the month of Shravan,” Chakravorty pointed out.

The project being his brainchild, Chakravorty is ensuring that passengers get value for money and are provided first-class hospitality on board the flight and also when they touch down in Deoghar. As such, the tourism department will line up a fleet of cars to ferry passengers from the airport to the guest houses and then to the temple and also bring them back to the airport.

“In case the flights are delayed due to weather problems, passengers will be hosted in guest houses,” Chakravorty said.

Ranchi residents, especially the elderly, welcomed the move.

“The flight service will be a boon for senior citizens and will allow them to visit the temple and be back in the city in a couple of hours,” said Suresh Chandra Verma, a sexagenarian.

Source: The Telegraph, DT. June 6, 2013.