By IANS,
Kangra: Himachal Pradesh plans to link the Aadi Himani Chamunda temple in the Dhauladhar mountain range with a road and develop it in line with the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said here Saturday.
“Directions have been issued to the authorities concerned to conduct survey and prepare a detailed project report for linking the Himani Chamunda temple with road,” the chief minister said.
He added that thousands of pilgrims visit this temple every year and their number would increase when connected with a road.
Virbhadra Singh said to promote air connectivity, especially heli-taxi service, the government has proposed to decrease value value added tax (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel to one percent from the existing five percent in the state budget for 2013-14.
The ancient Himani Chamunda temple can be reached through an uphill trek of about 16 km from the famous shrine of Chamunda Devi near Dharamsala town, some 250 km from the state capital Shimla.
Himachal Pradesh has 28 Hindu temples. The popular shrines are Chintpurni in Una, Naina Devi in Bilaspur, Baba Balak Nath in Hamirpur and Jwalaji in Kangra.