Sharawan month of Nepal Sambhat calendar is marked and symbolized as a holy month in Hinduism. Hindu followers’ devote themselves to Lord Shiva throughout the month by only consuming vegetarian foods and traveling to various Shiva linked monuments and sites for prayers. The majority of Hindus even plans for their visit to Kailash, Mansarovar, believed to be the birth place of Lord Shiva during this holy month. Mt. Kailash is located in the Himalayas in Tibet close to Nepal-China border and various Hindu pilgrims gather together in Nepal to make their way to the holy mountain being the safest route to travel.
Currently, various pilgrims from across the globe are gathered in Nepal to make their way to the holy mountain. The flow of pilgrims for Kailash Mansarovar has made Nepali domestic airlines operators’ busy tackling the aircraft operation for Simikot falling on the way to Mt. Kailash. The flow of heavy numbers of pilgrimage has also caused the domestic operators to add up additional flights. In total three of the domestic operators Sita, Goma and Tara Airlines are conducting five scheduled flight each to Simikot in normal weather conditions to facilitate the Hindu Pilgrims.
This flow of pilgrims in the region has also affected the air travel plans for the locals as the airlines are only emphasizing the pilgrims. At present airlines have been running out of tickets for the locals which as a result have made them furious towards the airline’s authorities often leading to arguments and quarrels.
Some of the locals have also complained about the airline’s intention of making good earnings by only facilitating the foreign pilgrims with air tickets and ignoring them from the travel. The issues have been troubling the locals in the region to occupy their tickets. Some of the pilgrims also spoke that they too have been encountering troubles with long delayed flights. The airlines have pre booked the tickets in heavy numbers but have hardly manage the flights accordingly resulting in the passengers to woe. Airlines authorities have been making excuses by marking the weather condition of the region. The current situation denotes the locals are more likely to be troubled throughout the month.
