Bhimashankar by MSRTC Bus — Shivajinagar Timings & Last Bus (2026)

MSRTC runs about twelve buses a day from Pune's Shivajinagar stand to Bhimashankar, roughly hourly from 5 am to 4 pm, at an ordinary fare of around ₹185. The number that matters more is the other way: the last bus back to Pune leaves Bhimashankar at about 4:30 pm.

Plan the whole day around that one departure and the trip is cheap and simple.

🚌 Shivajinagar to Bhimashankar: departures, fare and journey time

The Bhimashankar buses leave from the Shivajinagar ST stand, the one at Wakdewadi, not from Swargate. The depot schedules about twelve departures a day between 5 am and 4 pm, close to one an hour.

Under the Mahila Sanman scheme, women pay half the ordinary fare on MSRTC buses, so a mother and daughter travelling together pay roughly one and a half fares. Timings drift by season and by depot, so confirm at the Shivajinagar enquiry window or the MSRTC app the evening before.

🛣️ The route and the Manchar changeover

The bus takes the Nashik highway out of Pune and turns off at Manchar for the hill road. The stops, in order:

1. Nashik Phata and Bhosari, the last city pickups.

2. Chakan and Rajgurunagar (Khed), about an hour out.

3. Manchar, roughly 60 km from Nashik Phata, where the bus leaves the highway. Tea stop and the point where many Yatris arrive by other buses.

4. Ghodegaon, the last village before the climb.

5. The final 40 km up through the Sahyadri to the temple, slow and winding.

If you reach Manchar by some other bus, shared jeeps and local ST services run from there up to Bhimashankar. Expect to pay roughly ₹80 to ₹120 a seat for a shared jeep from the Khed-Manchar side and wait until it fills.

On weekdays that can take a while, which is why the direct Shivajinagar bus is the better plan. Our Pune to Bhimashankar guide compares bus, taxi and self-drive on this same road.

🕉️ Fitting darshan into the bus timetable

The temple opens at 4:30 am with Kakad aarti and closes at 9:30 pm. The slot that trips bus Yatris up is the Madhyan aarti around 3 pm, when darshan pauses for about 45 minutes. If your return bus is 4:30 pm, you cannot afford to be in the queue at 3.

• Arrive before 10 am on the early bus and join the line straight away. Weekday waits are under an hour; Mondays and Shravan run far longer.

• Nijarup darshan is at 5 am and only reachable by staying the night before.

• Shringar darshan runs 4 pm to 9:30 pm, which is for overnight Yatris, not day-trippers on the bus.

• Shoes, bags and phones go to the stands outside; see the temple logistics guide for the rules and the cloakroom.

What to carry on the bus day:

• A water bottle and a packed breakfast, because the 5 am bus stops only briefly at Manchar.

• Small notes for the shoe stand, the cloakroom and the pooja plate.

• A light jacket in winter; the hilltop is several degrees colder than Pune at 9 am.

• Motion-sickness tablets for the last 40 km if anyone in the family needs them.

Keep the walk from the bus stand to the temple in mind. It is a steep descent of steps to the temple and a sweaty climb back, 15 to 20 minutes each way for a fit adult, longer for elders.

🏙️ From the Mumbai side: is there a direct bus?

There is. MSRTC runs a handful of services between Mumbai and Bhimashankar, with departures from Bhimashankar to Kurla at around 7 am, 10:30 am and 3 pm and one to Kalyan at about 7:30 am. The Kalyan route is listed at close to 7 hours, so it is a long day either way.

Most Mumbai Yatris do better taking a train to Pune and the Shivajinagar bus, or driving via Karjat and Khandas for the trek. The Khandas path is 4 to 6 hours up through the Ganesh Ghat or Shidi Ghat and is a trek, not a transfer. Our Bhimashankar trek guide explains both ghats.

🧭 Which plan should you choose?

• On a budget, fit, travelling light: the 5 am Shivajinagar bus, back on the 2:30 or 4:30 pm. Under ₹400 for the day's travel.

• With elders: the bus works only if you take the earliest departure and accept the steps. Otherwise a taxi that waits at the top is the kinder option.

• Arriving at Manchar from elsewhere: shared jeep up, but be at the Bhimashankar stand by 4 pm for the ST back, because the jeeps thin out after that.

• Avoid: the 3 pm and 4 pm departures from Shivajinagar for a day trip. They arrive after the last bus back has left, which means a night in Bhimashankar whether you planned one or not.

🛏️ Where to stay

If the timetable forces a night, the lodges near the bus stand and the MTDC resort are the options, and they fill on Mondays and in Shravan. Staying over has one reward: the 5 am Nijarup darshan, which no day-tripper on the bus ever sees.

Catch the early bus, be back at the stand by four, and Bhimashankar by ST is the easiest Jyotirlinga day trip in Maharashtra. Har Har Mahadev.