The Ministry of Railways would launch and operate the first state of the art fully air-conditioned Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train for the Ramayana circuit.

Ministry sources said the proposed 18-day Bharat Gaurav Tourist train tour to be started on June 21 will have its first stop at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, where tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmbhumi temple and Hanuman temple and additionally Bharat Mandir at Nandigram.

After Ayodhya, the next destination would be Buxar in Bihar where the tourists will be shown the hermitage of Maharishi Vishwamitra and the Ramrekha Ghat where the guests can take a holy dip in the Ganges. The almost 8000-km circuit in line with the Government of India initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” will cost Rs 62,370/- per passenger According to  IRCTC which will operate the train, the journey will further move to Sitamarhi for the visit of Sita’s birth place and proceed by road to Janakpur (Nepal).

Tourists will stay overnight at hotels in Janakpur and visit the famous Ram-Janaki Temple in Janakpur. After completion of  Sitamarhi visit, train proceeds to the oldest living city of the world, Varanasi.

While at Kashi, tourists will walk around the temples at Varanasi Sita Samahit Sthal,  Prayag, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot will be covered by road. Night stay at hotels will be provided at Varanasi, Prayag and Chitrakoot. The train journey on the next leg will move to Nasik for overnight stay at Hotels. Visit to Trayambakeshwar temple and Panchvati will be covered and the next destination after Nasik is scheduled for the visit of ancient city of Krishkindha, Hampi, with overnight stay at hotels.

“Here the guests will visit the temple believed to be the birth place of Shri Hanuman atop the Anjaneyadri Hills and other heritage and religious sites. Rameshwaram is the next destination of this train tour wherein Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanushkodi will be covered along with overnight stay at hotels. The train destination is Kanchipuram where Shiv Kanchi, Vishnu Kanchi and Kamakhshi temples are on the day’s excursion.

" From here, the last destination that the train touches in this tour is Bhadrachalam in Telengana state which is also widely referred to as the Ayodhya of the south. After this, the train will return back to Delhi on the 18th day of its journey covering roughly a distance of around 8000 Kms in this entire Ramayana tour,” IRCTC official mentioned.

From clean toilets to enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and security guards for each coach have also been provided for the tourists.