Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy has expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inclusion of Bhadarchalam as one of the destinations in the Ramayana Circuit of the Pilgrim Special Train of IRCTC.
"On my request to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider Bhadrachalam as a destination, the Prime Minister immediately instructed the Railway Minister to consider this request favourably," Reddy said.
"The Telugu speaking people across the world, especially from the state of Telangana have expressed their happiness and their gratitude to the Prime Minister for adding Bhadrachalam as a destination in the IRCTC's Ramayana Circuit train," he added.
Reddy, who is also minister for Development Of North Eastern Region (DoNER), said Lord Rama enjoys a special place in the heart of the Telugu speaking people in general and the people of Telangana in particular.
"The devotees of Lord Rama believe that the Lord along with Goddess Sita Devi and His brother Lakshmana spent close to 10 years of his exile in Panchavati which is in the area surrounding modern-day Bhadrachalam. Along with Bhadrachalam, Parnasala, JatayuPaka, Dummugudem and Gunadala in Telangana are very important in the life of Ayodhya Rama," he said.
The minister congratulated the Ministry of Railways and IRCTC for the successful launch of the Ramayana circuit train.
The train will start from New Delhi to Rameswaram and stop at various important places associated with the life of Lord Rama.
The minister said that the Bhadrachalam Sitaramaswamy Temple is known all over the world.
A Culture Ministry release said that the history of the shrine, Ramulavari temple is well known.
"The festivals held at this shrine before Ugadi to Ramanavami are very popular and the Sita Rama Kalyanam is a blissful event to witness. Since the aim of the Ramayana Yatra Train is to connect all the important locations of Lord Rama's journey during his lifetime, the inclusion of Bhadrachalam Road Station (kothagudem station) will complete the Ramayana Circuit," the release said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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