New Delhi [India], January 25 (ANI): Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, is running its Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train on a special tour Shri Jagannath Yatra.

The special train is in line with the government's "Dekho Apna Desh" initiative to promote domestic tourism.

At a price range starting Rs 17,655 per person, the IRCTC tourist train will be an all-inclusive tour package covering train journey in 3rd AC, night stay at hotels, all meals (vegetarian only), all transfer and sight-seeing in buses, travel insurance and services of a guide.

The train was flagged off from Delhi's Safdarjung Railway Station by Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw, and G Kishan Reddy.

Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train started its eight-day journey with 528 tourists and it will cover some of the prominent pilgrimage and heritage destinations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha.

The Bharat Gaurav Tourist train tour has its first stop at Varanasi, the ancient holy city, where tourists will visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple and corridor along with the Ganga ghat and participate in Arati.

After Varanasi, the train will move to Jashidih Railway station in Jharkhand and tourists will proceed to visit Baidyanath dham Jyotirling temple.

Further, the train will depart from Jashidih to Puri where a stay for two nights will be arranged for tourists in the hotels. While at Puri, tourists will visit Jagannath temple, Golden Puri beach, Sun temple at Konark and various temples in Bhubaneshwar. After Puri, Gaya will be the last destination, where the tourist will visit Vishnupad temple.

The train will finally return back to Delhi on February 1, 2023.

Coupled with a modern state-of-the-art AC rake, the tourist train has options to board/de-board the train at Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur and Lucknow stations in the tour.

This fully air-conditioned tourist train comprises eleven 3rd AC coaches, one pantry car and two Sitting cum Luggage Rake. Freshly cooked vegetarian meals will be served on board to the guests in their respective seats from the well-equipped modern pantry car. (ANI)