Puri: Three days after being flagged off from Delhi, the Shri Jagannath Yatra tourist train arrived at Puri railway station in Odisha on Saturday.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had on Wednesday flagged off the train from Safdarjung station in New Delhi where Union Education Minister Dharmendra was present as chief guest.
Sources said as many as 550 pilgrims reached Puri in the train, dedicated to Lord Jagannath, after covering major pilgrimage sites of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The pilgrims were received with flowers amid chants of Jai Jagannath.
Before reaching Puri for darshan at Jagannath temple and other sites, the pilgrims visited the ancient holy city of Varanasi and the Baidyanath Dham temple in Jharkhand’s Deoghar.
At the first stop at Varanasi, tourists visited the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the corridor connecting it and witnessed the ‘aarti’ performed on the banks of the Ganga. They also went to Jasidih in Jharkhand and visited the Baidyanath Dham Temple.
At Puri, a two-night stay has been arranged in hotels. In Odisha, tourists will visit the Jagannath Temple, Sun Temple at Konark and temples built during the Kalinga period in Bhubaneswar by buses.
Gaya in Bihar will be the last destination, where the tourists will visit the Vishnupad temple. The train will return to Delhi on the eighth day of its journey after covering around 4,000 km.
According to the Railways, freshly cooked vegetarian meals are being served on board. The train has also been fitted with an infotainment system for the entertainment of the passengers as well as for public announcements. It also has enhanced security features of CCTV cameras while guards are deployed in each coach.
The IRCTC Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Centre’s initiative ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ to promote domestic tourism. Indian Railways is providing approximately 33 per cent concession for the promotion of rail tourism under the scheme. Packages offered are at an economical rate starting at Rs 17,655 per person.
