After the recent success of Samajwadi Shravan Yatra toTripuati and Rameshwaran, Uttar Pradesh government has now decided to take the elderly persons of the state on the pilgrims to Jaganath Puri and Sun Temple Konark in Odisha next month.
Official sources said here on Sunday that the trip to Orissa has been fixed between February 24 and 29 when over 1000 pilgrims would be taken to Puri and Konarak by train free of cost.
The trip would be organised by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the pilgrims would be provided free fooding and lodging during the trip.
As per the norms, around 10 pilgrims would be selected from each of the 75 districts of the state besides others would be selected by the state government. The pilgrims would also be provided free travel to lucknow from their respective districts to board the train.
The pilgrims would also be provided with free travel kit and other facilities.
This month around 1100 pilgrims have visited Triupati and Rameshwaram while last year, two trips took place. The first one in March was to Haridwar and Rishikesh and the next one in September to Ajmer Sharif and Pushakar in Rajasthan.
Those willing to undertake the yatra can apply both on-line and off-line. They would be selected on the basis of their seniority as per their date of birth and also on first come first serve basis.
The Samajwadi Shravan Yatra launched by the state government this year has drawn inspiration from the devotion of a mythological character Shravan Kumar, who carried his blind parents on his shoulders for a pilgrimage.