Mahaparinirvan leaves Delhi on spiritual journey

New Delhi, Mar 28 (UNI) Touted as a journey towards spiritual fulfilment, the Railways special 'Mahaparinirvan Express' train chugged out on its maiden journey today, with an objective of promoting tourism through a package tour of Buddhist sites across the country.

Since 2007 is the year of Buddha's Mahaparinirvan, hence the name of the train.'' Inspired by 'Palace on Wheels' but with a much attractive fare structure, the fully air-conditioned train left Delhi's Safdarjung station at 2000 hrs on a seven day round trip till April 4.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) MD Dr Pradep Kumar Goel said '' There are 350 milli on Indians across the world. Since Gautam Buddha was born in India, this train is an attempt to connect those 350 million followers of Buddha with India.'' As to the inauguration of the train during the non-tourist season, Dr Goel said'' though it is not a tourist season two Buddha purnimas are falling in this year''.

There are 25 foreign tourists on board the 'Mahaparinirvan', whose schedule was changed from 14 days to seven days journey keeping in mind the overseas tourists who were disinclined to embark on a nearly fortnight-long trip.

Mahaparinirvan Express will reach Gaya in Bihar tomorrow and tourists will be taken to Bodh Gaya where Lord Buddha had attained enlightenment.

On the third day, they will be taken by road to Rajgir and Nalanda for seeing the ruins of the ancient Nalanda University.

From Nalanda, the travellers will be taken to Varanasi on the morning of the fourth day. The programme includes a dip in the Ganga and a visit to Kashi Vishwanath temple and Sarnath. On the fifth day, they will be reaching Gorakhpur from where they will be taken to Kushinagar and Lord Buddha's birthplace Lumbini in Nepal.

Arrangements have been made for issuing visas to foreign tourists there.

From Lumbini, the passengers will return to Gorakhpur before boarding the train for Gonda. On the seventh day, they will reach Sharavasti en route to Agra where a trip to the famous Taj Mahal has been planned. The same day, the train will leave for Safdarjung station in the evening.

The fare structure for the announced trips is: First AC - 140 US dollars per person per day; II-AC - 98 dollars per person per day; and III AC - 80 dollar per person per day.

A wide variety of cuisine, including Indian and continental, would be made available to tourists, depending on their palates.

With the ever rising security concerns Dr Goel said '' Private seciruty personnel, RPF personnel, Up police personnel and special tourist police by the UP and Bihar government have been put into service for all the security and safety needs''.

IRCTC has planned to run 11 trips during this year and another six in 2008 up to March(depending on its reception).

The next trips of the train have been scheduled for April 11, 30 and May 26. The operation of the train will be suspended during the monsoons. From September 22, it will resume its normal journey every fortnight.

To sum it up in a few words Dr Goel said '' If India is to be promoted as a tourist destination we will have to provide our best services''.

UNI