Package tour service launched

Package tours on eights routes from Kalaburagi has been launched under The Puneeta Yatra of Tourism Department and Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC).

Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge, briefing reporters here on Thursday, said, package tours from Bengaluru on 19 routes have been already launched on World Tourism Day. Tours from Kalaburagi would be on eight routes and already online as well as offline registration has been commenced.

The Puneeta Yatra tour package would cover major religious institutions, including mosques, churches, gurudwaras, Jain and Buddhist institutions and temples. Ticket charges include travel by KSTDC bus, accommodation, quick darshan and visit to surrounding places. Tourists will be accompanied by guides. Children below five years of age will not be charged, he said. The tours have been planned as per the demand of the people and availability of services, he added.

Eight package tour routes designed from Kalaburagi are: Kalaburagi city and Ganagapur: Bus will leave every day at 7.30 am and return at 7.30 pm. Ticket charge fixed per person is Rs 135. Bus will leave from Kalaburagi to Ganagapur and return to Kalaburagi and visit Sharanbasaveshwar temple, fort complex, museum, Khaja Bande Nawaz Darga, Amruth Sarvaoor of Brahmakumari and Buddha Vihar.

Nagavi-Sannati-Kori Siddeshwar temple: Tour will be on daily basis from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm and the ticket charge is Rs 295. It will cover Nagavi, Yallamma temple, Sannati Buddha shrine, Jain site, Sannati, Korisiddeshwar, and Buddha Vihar.

Both these packages provide only transportation facility.

Visit to Basava shrines: It is a three-day package and departs Kalaburagi at 10 pm. The ticket charge is Rs 3,070. It covers Kudalasangama, Almatti, Vijaypur (halt), Basavan Bagewadi, Basava Kalyan, and return to Kalaburagi by 7.30 pm.

Visit to popular masjids: This is a two-day package and departs Kalaburagi at 7.30 am. The ticket charge is Rs 2,550 per person and places to be visited will be around Bidar, Kalaburagi and Vijaypur.

Visit to shrines on four routes: Tirupati-Mangapur, Tirupati-Kalahasti-Srinivas Mangapur (four-day Rs 2,925) and Srishaila-Mahanandi-Sakshi Ganesha (four-day Rs 2,275). Tour will be twice a week on these routes. Shiradi-Nasik-Trayambakeshwara-Shanisingapur (four-day Rs 2,625) will be once a week. The package includes transport, lodging and special darshan charges. However, the tourists should spend for the food. These buses will have tourist guides, the minister explained.

KSTDC chairman Alamkhan informed that concession would be provided in the bookings for the tours of schools and colleges.