Following the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has designed a comprehensive tour program based on places of pilgrim importance as cited in the Ramayana.
The first of such tours began on February 4, and a group of 122 tourists from United Kingdom (60), Portugal (52), and India (10) are touring multiple sites including the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, the Bharat-Hanuman temple in Nandigram, the Janaki Mandir in Nepal’s Janakpur, the Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi, the Rameshwar Nath Temple in Buxar, the Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and so on.
An IRCTC official said that such tours are done on special request by groups of tourists.
Other sites covered in the tour are the Ganga-Yamuna sangam in Prayagraj, the Shringi Rishi Samadhi in Shringverpur, the Gupt Godavari in Chitrakoot, the Panchvati and Sitagufa in Nasik, the Anjanadri Hill in Hampi, Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram, the Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Bhadrachalam, and the Ramtek Fort in Nagpur, among other sites of religious importance in these towns.
The tour departed from New Delhi, and will continue for 19 days across the circuit.
The IRCTC has provided facilities for triple and double occupancy in second AC and cabins as well as a double occupancy coupe option in the Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC tourist train assigned for the pilgrimage circuit in the price range of ₹1.49 lakhs to ₹1.86 lakhs per passenger.
The costs include train travel, night stay, onboard and off board vegetarian meals, transfers and sightseeing, and travel insurance for passengers.
