New Delhi, Jun 21: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Tuesday will launch a 18-day 'Shri Ramayana Yatra' through a special tourist train to take pilgrims to sacred places associated with Lord Ram.
'Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train' will start from Delhi's Safdarjung railway station on June 21, chief regional manager of IRCTC , Ajit Kumar Sinha had said earlier.
It is a 18-day journey on third AC class coaches on 'Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train' which has 11 coaches. The train has the accommodation capacity of around 600 passengers and the price of a ticket costs Rs 62,370, the officials said earlier.
The IRCTC has also tied up with Paytm and Razorpay payment gateways for providing EMI options to the passengers. Besides, an early bird discount of 5 per cent in fare will be given to the first 50 per cent passengers.
The EMI payment option given by the IRCTC is also for the first time.
The tour package aims at realising devotees' dreams to visit places, where Lord Ram, his wife Goddess Sita and Lord Laxman had set foot, while undertaking an exile in the forest for 14 years.
The train will run on the Ramayan circuit identified under Swadesh Darshan scheme covering prominent places that include Ayodhya, Janakpur (Nepal), Sitamarhi, Buxar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Shringverpur, Chitrakoot, Nashik, Hampi, Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram and Bhadrachalam (also known as Ayodhya of South India).
As per an official, it is for the first time that a tourist train will go from India to Nepal, and connect two religious cities of Ayodhya and Janakpur.
The boarding points, apart from Delhi, are Aligarh, Tundla, Kanpur and Lucknow and the cost of a ticket is uniform irrespective of the station a passenger boards from. The tour plan includes food, stay in hotel and guide services at the points of visit.