IRCTC Ltd, a public sector undertaking under Ministry of Railways is launching and operating the first Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train (modern state of the art AC rake) from Delhi on 21st June 2022 which will cover all prominent places associated with the life of Lord Rama.
The proposed 18 day Bharat Gaurav Tourist train tour has its first stop at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, where tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmbhumi temple and Hanuman temple and additionally Bharat Mandir at Nandigram. After Ayodhya, the next destination is Buxar where the tourists will be shown the hermitage of Maharishi Vishwamitra and the Ramrekha Ghat where the guests can take a holy dip in the Ganges.
From there the train moves to Sitamarhi for the visit of Sita’s birth place and proceeds by road to Janakpur (Nepal). Tourists will stay overnight at hotels in Janakpur and visit the famous Ram-Janaki Temple in Janakpur. After completion of Sitamarhi visit, the train proceeds to the oldest living city of the world, Varanasi. While at Kashi, tourists will walk around the temples at Varanasi Sita Samahit Sthal, Prayag, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot will be covered by road. Night stay at hotels will be provided at Varanasi, Prayag and Chitrakoot.
The train journey on the next leg moves to Nasik for overnight stay at Hotels. Visit to Trayambakeshwar temple and Panchvati will be covered. Next destination after Nasik is the visit to the ancient city of Krishkindha, Hampi with overnight stay at hotels. Here the guests will visit the temple believed to be the birth place of Shri Hanuman atop the Anjaneyadri Hills and other heritage and religious sites. Rameshwaram is the next destination of this train tour wherein Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanushkodi will be covered along with overnight stay at hotels. The train destination is Kanchipuram where Shiv Kanchi, Vishnu Kanchi and Kamakhshi temples are on the day’s excursion. From here, the last destination that the train touches in this tour is Bhadrachalam in Telangana state which is also widely referred as the Ayodhya of the south. After this, the train will return back to Delhi on the 18th day of its journey covering roughly a distance of around 8000 Kms in this entire Ramayana tour.
This fully air-conditioned tourist train will comprise eleven 3rd AC coaches, one pantry car and two SLR’s. Freshly cooked vegetarian meals will be served on board to the guests in their respective seats from the well equipped modern pantry car. The train has also been fitted with an infotainment system for the entertainment of the passengers as well as for public announcements. From clean toilets to enhanced security features of CCTV Cameras and Security Guards for each coach have also been provided for the tourists.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launched is in line with the Government of India initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism. At a price range starting from Rs. 62,370/- per person, the IRCTC tourist train will be an 18 days all inclusive tour package. The All inclusive Package price will cover train journey in 3rd AC, Night stay at AC hotels, All meals (VEG ONLY), all transfer & sight-seeing in buses, Travel Insurance and services of guide etc. All necessary health precautionary measures will be taken care of by providing safe and healthy travel during the tour. IRCTC will make efforts to provide a safe and memorable experience to the guests.
In order to make this package more attractive and affordable to a large population, IRCTC has tied up with Paytm and Razorpay payment gateways for providing EMI payment options for breaking the total payment in small amount EMIs. Users can avail the EMI payment option for making payment in 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 or 24 month EMIs. These EMI payment options can be made through Debit/Credit Cards.
Government/PSU employees can avail LTC facility on this tour as per eligibility based on the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Beside this, IRCTC will also provide a safety kit to all tourists containing a face mask, hand gloves and a hand sanitizer. Temperature check of all tourists and staff, frequent train sanitization at halt stations etc and other precautions will be ensured. Staff shall be screened thoroughly and the kitchen will be cleaned & sanitized after every meal service. COVID-19 final Vaccination is mandatory for all guests of the age of 18 years and above.
Passengers can visit IRCTC website: https://www.irctctourism.com for online booking which is available on a first come first serve basis.
