7 Trains from (KBE)Kurebhar to (ay)ayodhya

IRCTC & NF Railway will operate its first Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train from Dibrugarh o­n 27^th May, 2023 for popular religious tourist circuit, covering Shree Mata Vaishnodevi, Ayodhya, Prayagraj and Varanasi. Passengers can board and de- board in stations at Dibrugarh, Simaluguri, Mariani, Dimapur, Lumding, Guwahati, Rangiya, New Bongaigaon, New Coochbehar, New Jalpaiguri, Katihar, Barauni Jn, Hajipur and Sonpur. The train comprises of 08 LHB Sleeper Coaches and 03 AC 3-Tier coaches with a pantry car.

Spanning over 10 nights and 11 days, the first stop of this train will be at Katra where tourists will visit Mata Vaishnodevi Temple. This train will further depart for Ayodhya where tourist will visit Ram Janma Bhoomi, Hanumangarhi followed by Aarati at Sarayu River. The next destination to follow is Prayagraj where tourist will visit the sacred place Triveni Sangam and Alopi Devi Temple. The next halt for the tourist train will be at Varanasi where tourist will visit Ganga Aarti and Kashi Vishwanath Temple besides other pilgrimage places.

The tourist will be provided with meals o­nboard and packaged drinking water during the train journey. Meal comprises of early morning tea, breakfast, lunch with evening tea and dinner. Cleanliness of the coaches and hygiene in the toilets will be taken care by dedicated o­n-board housekeeping staffs. Unarmed security guards will also be deployed in every coach to ensure that the passenger belongings are kept safe and no unauthorized passenger board the special tourist train. Every coach will also have dedicated escorts to cater to every need of the passengers.

Dedicated coaches/buses will be provided to the tourists for off-board transfers and sightseeing. The tourists will be escorted by dedicated tour escorts through-out the trip. For Sleeper Class, non- AC Family hotel rooms will be provided at the places of night stay and AC accommodation will be arranged in standard category hotels for AC Passengers.

The entire trip will cost per person approximately Rs. 20,850/- and Rs. 31,135/- inclusive of GST for Sleeper Class and AC 3-Tier respectively. All necessary health precautionary measures will be taken care of and IRCTC will make efforts to provide a safe and memorable experience to the guests.

Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiative “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism. Indian Railways is providing approximately 33% concession for promotion of rail tourism under Bharat Gaurav Train scheme. In order to make this package more attractive and affordable, bookings made directly through IRCTC website can avail the facility of EMI through Paytm, Razor Pay (credit facility of 3-18 months through debit card & 3-24 months through credit card) & Bajaj Finance (credit facility of 3 months & 5 months o­nly).

For tour booking tourist can visit IRCTC website: https://www.irctctourism.com. For further query tourist can contact helpline no. 8595936696/8638507592 or visit IRCTC office at 4D Mandovi Apartment, GNB Road, Ambari, Opp Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahati-781001.

WR Press Release No. 2023/03                                                    Mumbai, 30^th March, 2023

INDIAN RAILWAYS TO INTRODUCE TWO BHARAT GAURAV TOURIST TRAINS TO SEVERAL DIVINE DESTINATIONS

Puri-Gangasagar Bhavya Kashi Yatra

Sri Rameshwaram Tirupati Dakshin Darshan Yatra

Affordable Religious Travel Plans for Pilgrims from Central India

            The Ministry of Railways has introduced ‘Bharat Gaurav Trains’ to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage by connecting important historical, cultural and religious places of the country through railways. Till date 29 trips of Bharat Gaurav Trains have been operated across the length and breadth of the country. Taking this novel initiative ahead, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will commence the “Puri – Gangasagar Bhavya Kashi Yatra” from Indore station o­n 16^thMay, 2023 and “Sri Rameshwaram Tirupati Dakshin Darshan Yatra” from Indore station o­n 29^th May, 2023. Both the trips will span over 10 days. For more details & o­nline booking, kindly visit www.irctctourism.com/bharatgaurav or call 8287931656/8287931723.

Puri – Gangasagar Bhavya Kashi Yatra

            Starting the journey from Indore, the yatra will cover six divine destinations in a tour of 9 nights and 10 days (from 16^th to 25^th May, 2023). The tour package will cost Rs.17,600/- per person. The Yatris in the train will get a unique opportunity to visit Puri, Konark, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Deoghar, Varanasi, and Ayodhya. To benefit all the rail passengers, boarding (& deboarding at the end of the journey) has been given at 7 important stations across the state of Madhya Pradesh. The first stop of this train is Puri where pilgrims will visit the Jagannath Puri Temple. Pilgrims will next visit the famous Konark Temple and head to Bhubaneswar to visit the Lingaraj Temple. The Yatris will then proceed to Kolkata for an overnight stay at Gangasagar and visit the Kali Mandir the next day. The next stop will be at Jaisidih station to visit Baba Baidyanath Dham Jyotirlinga Temple in Deoghar. Yatris will also get to visit the sacred city of Varanasi & visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and aarti at Ganga Ghat. In the last leg of the yatra, the pilgrims will proceed to Ayodhya and visit the Shri Ram Janam Bhumi Temple.

Sri Rameshwaram Tirupati Dakshin Darshan Yatra

            The yatra will start from Indore and will cover five divine destinations in a tour of 9 nights and 10 days (from 29^thMay to 7^th June, 2023). The tour package will cost Rs.18,700/- per person. The Yatris in the train will get a unique opportunity to visit Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Madurai, Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram. To benefit all the rail passengers, boarding (& deboarding at the end of the journey) has been given at 8 important stations across the state of Madhya Pradesh. The first divine stop of this holy journey will be at Renigunta station to visit Tirupati Balaji Temple. The yatra will then proceed to visit the Padmavati Temple. The next day, pilgrims will arrive at Madurai railway station to reach Rameshwaram and visit the Ramanathaswamy Temple. The yatris will then proceed to Meenakshi Temple and reach Kanyakumari station the next day. The yatris will visit Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Gandhi Mandapam and Kanyakumari Temple. At last, the yatris will proceed to Thiruvananthapuram station and visit Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

            The train provides holistic service to the rail passengers by taking care of all their travel-related needs. The tour package includes all travel facilities (including both rail as well as road transport), accommodation facility in Non-AC Budget Hotel Rooms o­n Twin and Triple Sharing basis, Wash and Change facilities, catering arrangements (Morning Tea, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner – both o­n-Board and Off-Board), Services of professional and friendly tour escorts, Security o­n train – CCTV Cameras installed in all Coaches, Public announcement facility in all coaches, Travel insurance and presence of IRCTC Tour Managers throughout the travel for assistance.

For more details, o­ne can visit IRCTC website: www.irctctourism.comand booking is available o­nline, o­n first come first serve basis o­n the web portal.

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