More than 10 lakh devotees descended on seven prominent temples and Shakti Peeths across Himachal Pradesh during the nine-day Ashwin Navratri festival, held from 11 to 19 October 2026, the state government announced on Tuesday. The massive turnout prompted extensive police deployments for crowd and traffic management at shrines spread across hilly terrain with narrow access roads.

Temple-wise Footfall

Official records show a total of 10,25,726 pilgrims and 1,04,520 vehicles were counted across the seven shrines during the festival period. The hilltop Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district drew the largest congregation, with 3,95,226 devotees — nearly two-fifths of the total footfall.

Shri Jawalamukhi temple in Kangra district followed with 1,80,000 visitors, while Chintpurni temple in Una district recorded 1,39,000. Bala Sundri temple in Trilokpur received 1,06,600 pilgrims; Chamunda Devi temple registered 70,500 visitors. Brijeshwari Devi temple and Baglamukhi temple welcomed 69,400 and 65,000 devotees, respectively.

Chief Minister Commends Police and Support Agencies

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu congratulated Himachal Pradesh Police on managing the pilgrimage influx and ensuring safe, orderly visits to all shrines. He underscored that protecting the safety and convenience of large numbers of pilgrims constitutes a core responsibility of the state government.

Sukhu praised the coordination among police, district administrations, temple trusts, Home Guards, and other agencies. He also recognised personnel who worked extended hours, along with the support extended by temple authorities, volunteers, local residents, and pilgrims themselves.

Ground-Level Deployment and Crowd Management

Police personnel were deployed for crowd control, traffic regulation, parking management, and queue management — particularly at temples situated on hillsides with limited approach roads and restricted parking. The logistical challenge was considerable given the combined influx of over one million visitors and more than one lakh vehicles within nine days.

The Chief Minister urged residents and visitors to use ERSS-112, the round-the-clock emergency helpline, for police, fire, or ambulance assistance as needed.

Police Leadership's Response

Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police Ashok Tewari thanked the Chief Minister for publicly recognising the force's efforts, stating the appreciation would motivate personnel to serve with greater dedication and professionalism. Tewari also commended district police chiefs, supervisory officers, and field personnel deployed across the festival period, reiterating the force's commitment to pilgrim and tourist safety.

What This Signals

The 10 lakh-plus footfall underscores the growing scale of religious tourism in Himachal Pradesh, which hosts several of the subcontinent's most visited Shakti Peeths. This comes amid a broader trend of rising domestic pilgrimage after the post-pandemic rebound, with state governments increasingly treating festival crowd management as a critical governance metric. How Himachal handles the next major festival cycle — including Navratri in spring — will test whether this year's coordination model can be institutionalised.