The IRCTC special tour offering based on the Ramayana circuit under the Swadesh Darshan covers important places associated with the life of Lord Rama.

The state-of-the-art luxury tourist train with AC I and AC II classes will accommodate a total of 156 tourists.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), a public sector company under the Ministry of Railways, has decided to operate the popular “Shri Ramayana Yatra” in Deluxe AC tourist train to promote spiritual tourism with special emphasis on l emphasis on the life of Shri Rama. The train tour will depart from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station on February 22, 2022 and will cover major places associated with the life of Lord Rama. The next trip will have three additional destinations namely Buxar, Kanchipuram and Bhadrachalam.

Spanning 19 nights/20 days, the first stop is Ayodhya where tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple and Hanuman Temple. Also, there would be Bharat Mandir in Nandigram. After Ayodhya, the next destination will be Sitamarhi in Bihar where Sita is said to have been born and the Ram-Janaki temple in Janakpur (Nepal) will be covered by the road. After Sitamarhi, guests will be taken to Buxar for a visit to Ramrekha ghat and local temples followed by Varanasi, where they will visit Varanasi, Prayag, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot temples by road. Overnight stay will be organized in Varanasi, Prayag and Chitrakoot respectively.

The next destination the train travels to is Nasik where a visit to Trayambakeshwar Temple and Panchvati will be covered. The next destination after Nasik is Hampi which, according to folklore, is located around the ancient monkey kingdom of Kishkindha. Here, the temple is considered the sacred birthplace of Shri Hanuman, and other heritage and religious sites will be covered. Then the train proceeds to one of the sacred Char Dham sites of Rameshwaram.

Excursions include a visit to the eponymous temple of Ramanathaswamy and Dhanuskodi. The next destination is Kanchipuram which takes guests through the Vishnu Kanchi, Shiva Kanchi and the Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple. Bhadrachalam will be the last destination of this train tour, after which the train will return to Delhi on the 20th day of its journey. Guests will cover approximately 7,500 km during this whole tour.

The modern AC luxury tourist train has a host of amazing features including two gourmet restaurants, a contemporary kitchen, in-coach shower stalls, sensor-based toilet functions, a foot massager and a mini- library. The fully air-conditioned train offers two types of accommodation viz. AC I and AC II. The train has enhanced security features such as CCTV cameras, electronic safes and dedicated security guards appointed for each coach.

IRCTC has launched this special tourist train in line with Indian government’s initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism, at the cost of ₹99,475 per person for 2AC and ₹1,21,735 per person in class 1AC. Package price covers train travel in AC coaches, accommodation in AC hotels, all meals (Veg only), all transfers and tours in AC vehicles, travel insurance and IRCTC Tour services Managers, etc All necessary sanitary precautionary measures will be taken care of, ensuring a safe and healthy journey during the tour. Government/PSU employees can avail LTC facilities on this tour as per their eligibility based on the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance.

To guarantee the safety measures in the current scenario of COVID 19, full vaccination of passengers in the age group 18 years or older is mandatory. In addition, the IRCTC will also provide a safety kit to all tourists, which would include a face mask, gloves and sanitizers. Regular temperature checks of all tourists and staff, frequent disinfection of trains at stopping stations, etc. and other precautions were also adopted. Staff must be carefully checked and the kitchen and restaurants must be disinfected after each meal service.