Indian Railways is offering the tourists the option to visit the Ram Janmabhhomi, Sita Mata Mandir and Janakpur among other places associated with Lord Rama during the auspicious period of Navratras in the country as well as abroad.
A special tourist train aptly named as Shri Ramayana Express would be launched from here on March 28 for passengers to cover the Ramayan Circuit in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Arrangements have been made by the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) to facilitate passengers to visit the tourist places associated with Lord Rama in Sri Lanka and Nepal said a senior Railway Ministry official.
The package is for a 16 Nights-17 Days tour which offers tourists to visit the Ramayan Circuit of India consisting places associated with Lord Ram including Ram Janmbhoomi and Hanuman Garhi at Ayodhya.
Besides Ayodhya, other major places to be covered in the journey are Bharat Mandir at Nandigram, Sita Mata Mandir at Sitamarhi (Bihar), and Janakpur in Nepal, Tulsi Manas Mandir and Sankat Mochan Mandir at Varanasi, Sita Samahit Sthal at Sitamarhi, Triveni Sangam, Hanuman Mandir and Bharadwaj Ashram at Prayag.
Shringi Rishi Mandir at Shringverpur, Ramghat and Sati Anusuiya Mandir at Chitrakoot, Panchvati at Nasik, Anjanadri Hill and Hanuman Janm Sthal at Hampi and Jyotirlinga Shiva Mandir at Rameshwaram are other attractions in the Ramayan circuit.
The 10-coach special train with AC and non-AC facilities will be operated by the IRCTC, Railways’ tourism and catering arm for which bookings have been started.
The Navratras begin from March 25 while the Ram Navami is on April 2.
This is the second time that Railways is offering special service for tourists to visit the Ramayan circuit. The special train will have five Sleeper class non-AC coaches and an equal number of 3-AC coaches. The booking will purely be on first come first serve basis.
“Earlier a similar service on this circuit was launched last year with only Sleeper Class coaches which was a huge success and the response of the customers was so tremendous that all the available seats were booked in merely 7 days time,” said the official.
Considering the previous response, IRCTC has decided to launch this unique product in which some AC 3-tier coaches have also been added in addition to Sleeper class coaches. The Train will commence its journey from Safdargunj station on March 28.
Passengers have also option to board the train from Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareily and Lucknow. Keeping the pious occasion in mind, tourists will be offered pure vegetarian meals, accommodation and wash and change facilities in Dharmashalas for Sleeper Class travellers, hotels for AC Class passengers.
All transfers and sightseeing arrangements at tourist places by non-AC buses and dedicated tour manager of IRCTC who will be travelling with the tourists during the entire tour.
Considering the Navratra period, all the preparations to be served to the passengers will be cooked without onion, garlic. Fasting food will also be available for the tourists including – Sabudana Khichdi, fruits, curd, potato chat etc.
There are 360 berths in Sleeper class and 330 berths in AC 3-tier class. Tourists may opt Sleeper class package at a cost of Rs 16,065 per person, whereas the AC class package will cost Rs 26,775 per person.
Further, to cover the tourist places of Ramayana Circuit of Sri Lanka along with the Indian Ramayana Circuit, an add-on tour to Sri Lanka has also been launched with limited 40 seats only.
Those tourists keen to visit Sri Lanka will be required to de-board the Ramayana Express at Chennai on April 11 and from there these passengers will be taken on a flight in economy class by Srilankan Airlines to Colombo where they will be offered three nights in Sri Lanka at Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Negombo.
This Sri Lankan leg will be charged additionally Rs 37,800 per person. Major highlights of this leg of the journey include Sita Mata Mandir, Ashok Vatika, Vibhishana Temple and famous Shiva Temple at Munneshwaram – Munnavari and much more.
The return Journey will be booked by flight in economy class from Colombo to Delhi and the tourists will reach Delhi on April 15 early morning. For Nepal, passengers will be deboarded at Sitamarhi and travel by bus to Janakpur.
The online booking of this special Shri Ramayana Express Tourist Train has already commenced. Bookings can be done through IRCTC’s website.