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Shimla (ANI): Devotees gathered in large numbers for Navratri celebrations at the over 200-year-old Kali Bari temple in Shimla on Monday.
However, tourist inflow to the hill town was relatively low this year due to the recent monsoon-induced floods in Himachal Pradesh.
“A large number of people gathered here to offer prayers during Navratri. This year’s monsoon rains caused unprecedented loss of civilian life and massive damage to public infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh. Dozens of homes were damaged or swept away and thousands of trees were destroyed. Railway lines were also damaged. During the month-long holidays in and around Navratri, a large number of devotees from West Bengal travel to Himachal Pradesh. They start booking accommodation here two to three months in advance. However, due to the outbreak of rain this year many people canceled their reservations. “This is the reason why relatively fewer Bengali tourists have come this year,” Mukti Chakraborty, priest at Kali Bari temple in Shimla, told ANI.

The priest said special prayers were organized for world peace amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the current military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Due to floods and rains in the hill state for two months in July and August, many tourists from Bengal canceled their hotel bookings for Navratri holidays.
“During Durga Puja in Bengal, we go to Himachal on holidays. Shimla is calm and clean and I love staying here at this time. However, due to the rains and floods in the state this year, many tourists from Bengal have canceled their hotel bookings, so this year we have less tourists from Bengal,” Ganesh, a tourist from Bengal, told ANI.
The tourist said, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bengalis could not celebrate Durga Puja as they usually do in recent years. So this year, most Bengalis are busy celebrating Durga Puja at home.”