Come June 21, tourists can embark on an 18-day ‘Shri Ramayana Yatra’ on a special train introduced by the Indian Railways that will connect sacred places associated with the life of Lord Ram.

Bookings for the tour on the Ramayana circuit, which will cover 8,000 km and connect the two religious cities of Ayodhya and Janakpur in India and Nepal, can be done through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) tourism platform.

The tour aims to take the pilgrims on a journey to 13 destinations where Lord Ram, his wife Sita and brother Laxman lived.

How to book tickets?

Tickets for the tour package can be booked through the IRCTC tourism portal.

Ticket prices

According to the IRCTC portal, the journey will cost Rs 71,820 for a single traveller. For double and triple occupancy, the ticket is priced at Rs 62,370. For children between 5-11 years, the price of a ticket is Rs 56,700.

Apart from the train tickets, the package includes stay at standard hotels in AC rooms, on-board train meals, off-board meals in quality restaurants, hotels or banquets, transfers and sightseeing in non-AC bus, travel insurance for passengers and guide services at the points of visit. Tourists will be offered vegetarian meals only.

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The itinerary

The 18-day journey on the ‘Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train’ will start on June 21 from Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station. The train will depart at 5 pm tentatively.

The first stop will be at Ayodhya — the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, Hanuman temple and Bharat Mandir at Nandigram. Next, the pilgrims will travel to Buxar in Bihar, where they will be taken to the hermitage of Vishwamitra and Ramrekha Ghat by the Ganga. Then it’s off to Sitamarhi in Bihar, which is believed to have been the birthplace of Sita, from where they will be transferred to Janakpur in Nepal via Jainagar in Bihar’s Madhubani district. After an overnight stay in Janakpur, the travellers will be taken to the Ram-Janaki Temple the following day.

Next, the tourists will halt at Varanasi, where they will visit various temples. They will also visit Shringverpur, near Prayagraj, which is believed to be the place where Ram, Sita and Laxman crossed river Ganga. They will also visit Chitrakoot.

From there, the train will move south and west to Nasik, Hampi and Rameshwaram. Hampi is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman.

From Rameshwaram, there will be a day trip to Kanchipuram’s Shiv Kanchi, Vishnu Kanchi, and Kamakshi temples. The train will then move to Bhadrachalam in Telangana, which is often referred to as the Ayodhya of the South. On Day 16, the train will start from Bhadrachalam for the journey back to Delhi.

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Coaches and accommodation

The train will have 11 third AC class coaches and can accommodate around 600 passengers. The interiors of the train will have pictures from the Ramayana epic.

“The train will have an infotainment system, and CCTV cameras and guards will ensure security on board,” Indian Express quoted an IRCTC official as saying.

EMI option

Passengers can avail the EMI option to pay for the ticket. IRCTC has tied up with Paytm and Razorpay payment gateways. The first 50 percent of passengers will get an early bird discount of 5 percent on the fare as well.

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Boarding and deboarding points

Apart from Delhi, the pilgrims can board the train from Aligarh, Tundla, Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Lucknow — however, they will have to pay the same fare irrespective of the boarding point. Passengers can deboard at Virangana Laxmibai, Agra, Mathura and Delhi.

Till last month, IRCTC has received 285 bookings from various parts of the country. Till May 26, the maximum number of bookings came are from Maharashtra (61), followed by Uttar Pradesh (55).