Film Success Brings Heavy Crowds and Traffic Jams to Kainchi Dham Shrine

Thousands of devotees are flocking to Kainchi Dham, a Hanuman temple and ashram in the Kumaon hills, causing severe traffic jams on the roads around Bhimtal and Bhowali. The shrine takes its name from two sharp hairpin bends, known locally as kainchi, located nine kilometres past Bhowali on the road from Nainital to Almora.

The Film Impact

This sudden surge in visitors follows the release of Hanuman Ansh, a small-budget film about the spiritual guru Neem Karoli Baba, directed by Dr Vishal Chaturvedi. After opening quietly on August 7 across 250 screens, the movie expanded to 2,000 screens by September 11 and grossed 200 crore rupees in India. As crowds choked the area during the October 2 long weekend, Chaturvedi released an Instagram video urging travellers to check road conditions beforehand and suggesting alternative sites linked to the guru, such as Vrindavan, if Kainchi Dham was too packed.

Guru's History

Neem Karoli Baba, originally named Lakshman Narayan Sharma, was born around 1900 in a village in the Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh. He married young, became a wandering ascetic, and taught as a Hindu spiritual teacher devoted to Hanuman, earning the name Maharaj-ji from his followers. He left behind no philosophical writings, and his teachings survive through stories and follower accounts of miracles. The guru spent his later years linked to the Kainchi Dham ashram after its consecration in 1964, before passing away in Vrindavan on September 11, 1973.

Global Followers

His international following grew significantly when Harvard psychologist Richard Alpert met him in India in 1967 and received the name Ram Dass, later writing the book Be Here Now. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs travelled to India in 1974 to meet the guru on a classmate's advice, but arrived to find Neem Karoli Baba had died the previous September. Jobs spent time walking nearby villages and reading Autobiography of a Yogi. Decades later, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Kainchi Dham after Jobs advised him to take a spiritual trip during a tough time for his company. Hollywood actor Julia Roberts stated in a 2010 interview that a photo of the guru drew her to Hinduism, while cricketer Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma are also noted as devotees.

Context

Spiritual tourism around ashrams and religious sites in India often sees sudden surges driven by popular culture, films, and celebrity endorsements. Hill stations and remote shrines face mounting infrastructure challenges as visitor numbers outgrow local road capacities during holiday periods. Such destinations rely heavily on digital communication and advisory updates from creators and local administrations to manage heavy tourist traffic.