Bharat Gaurav tourist train to cover 11 pilgrimage sites from May 9; Jaipur among boarding stations

Jaipur: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will run a Bharat Gaurav tourist train from May 9 to May 19, covering major religious destinations across the country in a single 11-day package. Passengers will be able to board the train from Jaipur and several other stations in Rajasthan and along the route.

The train will start from Sri Ganganagar and pick up passengers at Hanumangarh, Churu, Sikar, Ringas, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Mathura, Agra Cantt, Gwalior, Jhansi and Kanpur before returning to Sri Ganganagar on May 19.

IRCTC Jaipur’s Additional General Manager Yogendra Singh Gurjar said the service had been planned in response to demand from devotees who wanted to visit multiple major shrines in a single package. The train will have Third AC coaches, a kitchen car and bio toilets, and the tour is offered in two categories — Standard and Comfort — so that travellers can choose according to budget.

The itinerary covers the Jagannath Dham at Puri, the Sun Temple at Konark, the Gangasagar pilgrimage, the Kali Ghat temple in Kolkata, Baba Baidyanath Dham at Jasidih, the Mahabodhi and Vishnupad temples at Gaya, Kashi Vishwanath temple and Ganga aarti in Varanasi, and the Ramlala temple and Hanumangarhi in Ayodhya — clubbing these shrines across several states into a single route.

According to the schedule, the train leaves Sri Ganganagar on May 9 and reaches Gaya on May 11 for darshan at the Mahabodhi and Vishnupad temples. It reaches Puri on May 12, Konark on May 13 and Kolkata on May 14, from where passengers will be taken to Gangasagar. The Kali Ghat temple is on May 15, Baidyanath Dham at Jasidih on May 16, Kashi Vishwanath and Ganga aarti at Varanasi on May 17, and Ramlala temple and Hanumangarhi at Ayodhya on May 18. The train then returns to Sri Ganganagar, completing the tour on May 19.

IRCTC regional manager Mukesh Saini said the Standard category is priced at Rs 27,890, including AC rail travel, non-AC hotel accommodation and non-AC buses for local transport. The Comfort category is priced at Rs 32,065 and includes AC hotels and AC buses. Both packages cover confirmed berths, hotel stay, breakfast, lunch and dinner, drinking water, local transport and insurance cover.

Bookings can be made on the IRCTC tourism website at irctctourism.com, or in person at the regional office at Jeevan Prakash Building, Ambedkar Circle, Bhawani Singh Road, Jaipur. For enquiries, IRCTC has listed phone numbers 9001094705 and 8595930998.