Lord Rama on board

Indian Railways is planning to run a unique tourist train called Sri Ramayana Express in November which will retrace the “epic journey of Lord Rama”. The train will commence from New Delhi and travel to Rameshwaram via Ayodhya. The train will take the passengers on a tour to places linked with the Hindu epic Ramayana. The service will commence in New Delhi from Safdarjung Railway station on November 14 and take 16 days to complete its journey from Ayodhya to Rameshwaram.

According to the reports, the train will cover all important destinations associated with the life of Lord Shri Ram in 16 days all-inclusive tour package which is spread both in the countries of India as well as Sri Lanka where 4 destinations will be covered. This pilgrimage journey will have two components one in India and other in Sri Lanka.

Railways will charge separately for India and Sri Lanka journey. The train will make its first stop at Ayodhya station after departing from Delhi Safdarjung followed by Hanuman Garhi Ramkot and Kanak Bhawan temple. The train will then cover important points of Ramayana Circuit such as Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Janakpur, Varanasi, Prayag, Shringverpur, Chitrakoot, Nasik, Hampi and Rameshwaram.

The Sri Lankan tour package will include places such as Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Colombo and Negombo. After reaching Rameshwaram, interested tourists will be flying from Chennai to Colombo.

According to IRCTC, the all-inclusive tour package will cover all meals, accommodation and wash and change facilities in dharmashalas, all transfers, sight-seeing arrangements and dedicated tour manager of IRCTC who will be travelling with the tourists during the entire tour.

The trip is managed and organized entirely by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). There will be 800 seats available on the train. The estimated cost of tour is Rs 15,120 per person. The package includes all meals, accommodation and sight-seeing arrangements for the tourists.

The online booking will be made live soon on IRCTC’S Tourism Website . Booking can be done at IRCTC’s 27 tourist facilitation centre across the country. IRCTC is also operating an AC Tourist Train on the Ramayana Circuit from Trivandrum. Starting from August 28 to September 9, the tour covers Panchavati, Chitrakoot, Shringverpur, Tulsi Manas Mandir, Darbhanga, Sita Marhi, Ayodhya and Rameshwaram. The cost of the inclusive tour package starts from Rs. 39,800.