TIRUPATI: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), South Zone, has launched ‘Ramayana Yatra’, an exclusive tour package, covering all places designated under Ramayana Circuit.
IRCTC has arranged a special AC train for the yatra, which consists of 2 first AC, 3 second AC and 2 third AC coaches along with a pantry and dining car and two power cars. It is also offering ‘Nava Jyotirlinga Yatra’ to pilgrims.
IRCTC Area Manager BV Ramesh, along with SCR Area Officer T Devaraj and Tirupati Station Master Subodh Mithra, released the brochures of tours at Tirupati railway station on Wednesday. Disclosing the details, the IRCTC Area Manager said the first package tour titled ‘Nava Jyotirlinga Yatra’ starts from Kochuveli on July 31 and will return back to the same place on August 13.
The package tour covers Mallikarjuna Swamy temple, Omkareshwara, Mahakaleshwar, Somanatha Swamy, Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar, Grishneshwar, Aundha Nagnath and Parli Vaijnath temples. The second package tour titled ‘Ramayana Yatra’ starts from Kochuveli on August 28 and will return to the same place on September 8, which covers prominent places associated with Lord Rama mentioned in the epic Ramayana such as Panchavati, Chitrakoot, Shringverpur, Varanasi, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Ayodhya and Rameshwaram.
There are seven boarding and de-boarding points, which include Kochuveli, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Trichy, Chennai Egmore, Vijayawada and vice versa, whereas for Ramayana Yatra, Renigunta Junction has been included and Vijayawada excluded. Nava Jyotirlinga Yatra tariff varies from `38,290 to `74,150. Ramayana Yatra tariff varies from `39,350 to `60,750.