The Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) had run four packages of the special tourist trains in 2018. The IRCTC in a statement said on Friday that this year two tour packages on this circuit will run in November and like last year, interested tourists can avail the opportunity to visit such sites in Sri Lanka as well.
The train covers important destinations connected with the life of Lord Rama in India and Sri Lanka. While the Indian leg will be covered by train, the Sri Lankan tour will be undertaken by flight from Chennai.
The IRCTC said that the first such train named 'Shri Ramayana Yatra' is scheduled to depart from Jaipur in Rajasthan via Delhi on November 3, 2019. The package also includes the option of visiting Ramayana-related places in Sri Lanka for a limited number of seats.
It said Shri Ramayana Yatra will start from Jaipur railway station with boarding and deboarding stations at Alwar, Rewari, Delhi Safdarjung, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareilly and Lucknow.
The other train by the name of 'Ramayana Express' will start from Indore in Madhya Pradesh via Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh from November 18, 2019. The Ramayana Express will depart with boarding stations in Indore, Dewas, Ujjain, Maksi, Shujalpur, Sehore, Bairagarh (Bhopal), Vidisha, Ganj Basoda, Bina, Lalitpur and Jhansi.
While deboarding stations are Nagpur, Itarsi, Hoshangabad, Bairagarh in Bhopal, Sehore, Shujalpur, Maksi, Ujjain, Dewas and Indore. It said that one more such train is expected to depart from Madurai in the coming months.
According to IRCTC, the Indian leg of the journey will cost Rs 16,065 per person for 16 days and 17 nights, and those going to Sri Lanka will have to pay Rs 36,950 per person.
When the first trip of these special trains was introduced last year on December 14 from Delhi's Safdarjung Railway Station both the Indian as well as the Sri Lankan legs ran on full capacity, the Railways said.
In the Indian leg, tourists will visit places associated with Lord Rama also known as Ramayana Circuit of India - Ram Janambhoomi and Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya, Bharat Mandir in Nandigram, and Sita Mata Mandir in Sitamarhi (Bihar), among others.
In Sri Lanka, they will visit Sita Mata Mandir, Ashok Vatika, Vibhishana Temple and Shiva Temple at Munneshwaram-Munnavari among other sites.
( With inputs from IANS )