The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will run 1,000 extra buses between 15 and 16 September to meet the Gowri Habba (Gowri Ganesha) festival rush.

In an official circular, KSRTC informed that special buses from Bangalore Kempegowda Bus Station to following destinations will be available: Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shimoga, Hassan, Mangalore, Coondapura, Shringeri,Horanadu, Davangere, Hubli, Dharwar, Belgaum, Bijapur, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar,Raichur, Gulbarga, Bellary, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar and Thirupathi.

From Mysore Road Satellite Bus Station, special buses to following destinations will be available: Mysore, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar and Mercara routes.

Premier Special buses will be operated from Shanthinagar BMTC Bus Stand to following destinations: Madurai, Kumbakonam, Trichy, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places in Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh.

Gowri Habba is a popular Hindu festival that is celebrated in the States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

KSRTC is expecting heavy rush as thousands are expected to travel back to their home towns from Bengaluru for Gowri Ganesha festival, which is celebrated a day before Ganesh Chaturthi.

KSRTC has said that the special buses will be operated from following stops inside Bengaluru: Vijayanagara, JP Nagar, Jayanagar 4th Block and 9th Block, Jalahalli Cross, Navarang(Rajajinagar), Malleshwaram 18th Cross, and Kengeri Satellite Town to Shimoga, Davanagere, Tirupathi, Mangalore, Coondapur, Sringeri, Horanadu, Kukkesubramanya Dharmastala and other places based on the traffic potential.

All buses booked in advance towards North-West districts of Karnataka such as Hubli, Dharwar, Belgaum, Bijapur, Gokarna, Sirsi amd Karwar will depart from Mysore Road Satellite Bus Station.

Similarly, all buses booked in advance towards North-East districts such as Gulbarga, Bellary, Raichur,Hospet, Koppal, Yadgir and Bidar will depart from Sri Basaweshwara Bus Station (Peenya). 

Buses with no advance reservation will be operated from Kempegowda Bus Station.

When is Gowri Habba (Ganesh Gowri) 2015?

Gowri Habba, also known as Ganesh Gowri festival, is celebrated a day before Ganesh Chaturthi.

This year the festival will be on 16 September. On the day of Gowri Habba, both married and unmarried women worship a golden image of Goddess Gowri (Parvati), wife of Lord Shiva and mother of Lord Ganesha.

It is believed that on the day of the celebration, also known as Swarna Gowri Vratam, Goddess Gowri comes to earth like any other married girl who visits her parents' house and the next day, her son Ganesha comes to take her back to Kailasha.