NEW DELHI: The ‘Bharat Gaurav’ was flagged off today by Union minister of railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union tourism minister G Kishan Reddy at the Safdarjung railway station in New Delhi. Nepal’s Ambassador Shankar Prasad Sharma was also present on the occasion.
This is India’s first tourist train international train under the ‘Bharat Gaurav’ scheme. The train will run on the Ramayan circuit and will travel to Janakpur in Nepal.
“We launched this scheme to preserve our heritage, our legacy and to cherish our history so that our future generations remember our cultural heritage. We had launched the Ramayan express earlier as a soft project to understand the technical aspects and economic feasibility of rolling out such a project on a much larger scale,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw.
This is the second train under the ‘Bharat Gaurav’ scheme. The first was flagged off from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu which was based on the Shirdi Sai Baba theme, Vaishnaw added.
The Minister, who interacted with the passengers on board, also said that they reacted positively towards the ‘Bharat Gaurav’ scheme. “They have appreciated the efforts made by the government to experience India’s culture and heritage not just domestically but also internationally,” he added.
“This is a historical day and I am happy because this first ‘Bharat Gaurav’ train will connect Nepal and India. The train will take pilgrims to Nepal which will promote cultural heritage and tourism,” Sharma said. “We are also planning to start a train from Kathmandu to Delhi,” Nepal’s Ambassador revealed.
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Sharma believed that the scheme will help in popularizing the significance of Lord Ram’s life and also the birthplace of Maa Sita. The Janki Devi temple is one of the largest and most popular temples in Janakpur, which holds immense religious and cultural significance in Nepal.
“When the Prime Minister of India visited Nepal a couple of years ago, he commissioned Rs 100 crores for the development of Janakpur,” Sharma added.