Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be India’s first agency that will connect two countries through tourist trains under the Bharat Gaurav Scheme. The train will depart from New Delhi on the Shri Ramayana Yatra Circuit and will cover the distance of approximately 8,000 kilometres to reach Nepal.

The train will start the journey from Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station on June 21 and will run on the Ramayana Circuit identified under the “Swadesh Darshan” scheme and will cover prominent places associated with the life of Lord Ram.

For the first time, the IRCTC’s special Ramayana Yatra train will also stop at Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur, Nepal.

The train with a capacity of 600 persons, will cover other major cities including Ayodhya, Buxar, Kashi, Prayag, Chitrakoot, Nasik, Hampi, Rameshwaram, Kanchipuram, and Bhadrachalam in India.

Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train is the Union government’s initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism. The train’s first stop will be Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, where tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmbhumi temple and Hanuman temple and additionally Bharat Mandir at Nandigram.

IRCTC’s Ramayan Yatra will cost around ₹65,000 per person. It will cover the states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. (Source MINT)